''Lygosoma veunsaiense'' is a species of

skink Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. Ski ...

that is endemic to northeastern Cambodia. Its description as a new species was published in 2012, receiving both local and international publicity.Ottawa Citizen: New rainbow lizard discovered in Cambodia
/ref>

Discovery

In 2010, at the remote

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

area of Veun Sai-Siem Pang Conservation Area in Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia a Fauna and Flora International herpetologist,

Thy Neang THY or Thy may refer to: * ''Thy'', the genitive case of the English personal pronoun '' thou'' (archaic) * Thy (district), Jutland, Denmark * Thymine, one of the four nucleobases in the nucleic acid of DNA * Turkish Airlines (ICAO: THY, from Turk ...

, first discovered ''Lygosoma veunsaiense''. Peter Geissler from Museum Koenig in Germany, was one of the authors who described the skink.Fauna-Flora.org: Shiny new lizard discovered in northeast Cambodia
/ref>

Description

This type of lizard has

iridescent Iridescence (also known as goniochromism) is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear to gradually change color as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Examples of iridescence include soap bubbles, feathers, butterfl ...

rainbow skin with a long tail and short legs. The outer ear opening is absent; supranasals distinct and separated from each other by frontonasal; supranasals not fused with nasals; midbody scales in 22 rows; fontoparietals paired; five

supralabial scale In reptiles, the supralabial scales, also called upper-labials, are those scales that border the mouth opening along the upper jaw. They do not include the median scaleWright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates ( ...

s; a light stripe present on outer edge of the dorsum; and a dark

dorsolateral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

stripe present, from behind the eye to the tail.

Habitat

''Lygosoma veunsaiense'' spends most of its life underground in the rainforest.Global Post: Cambodia's newest species discovery: a stumpy-legged rainbow lizard
/ref>

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3014740 Lygosoma Endemic fauna of Cambodia Reptiles of Cambodia Reptiles described in 2012 Taxa named by Peter Geissler Taxa named by Timo Hartmann Taxa named by Thy Neang Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN