Explorers in the Philippines have, New Scientist reports, just discovered a cousin of the fearsome Komodo dragon that eats fruit:
Measuring 2 metres long, Varanus bitatawa is covered in bright yellow spots and eats fruit….
“The discovery of a highly distinctive new species of monitor lizard from heavily populated and highly deforested Luzon island comes as an unprecedented surprise,” says Rafe Brown of the University of Kansas, who identified the new species.
It’s also very shy, which explains why it hadn’t been identified before now despite living in a relatively well-populated area. It was hiding.