New giant, double-penis lizard - Varanus bitatawa or monitor lizard - found on Luzon Island in the Philippines
Perth Now
BIOLOGISTS have reported the discovery of a spectacular species of giant lizard, a reptile as long as a full-grown man is tall, and said it is endowed with a double penis.
The secretive but brightly-coloured beast, a monitor lizard, is a close cousin of the komodo dragon of Indonesia.
But unlike the fearsome dragon, it is not a carnivore, nor does it feast on rotting meat.
Instead, it is entirely peaceable and tucks into fruit.
Dubbed Varanus bitatawa, the lizard measures two metres in length, according to the account, published by Britain's Royal Society.
It was found in a river valley on northern Luzon Island in the Philippines, surviving loss of habitat and hunting by local people who use it for food.
How many of the lizards have survived is unclear.
The species is almost certainly critically endangered, and might well have disappeared entirely without ever being catalogued had a large male specimen not been rescued alive from a hunter last June.
The discovery "adds to the recognition of the Philippines as a global conservation hotspot and a regional superpower of biodiversity", the authors conclude.
The giant lizard should become a "flagship species" for conservation efforts aimed at preserving the remaining forests of northern Luzon, which are rapidly disappearing under the pressure of expanding human population and deforestation
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