Elusive scaly creature with blue mouth and green blood is a new species. See it
In the mountains of Papua New Guinea, researchers encountered a clownish creature perched on a log in a fern meadow, basking in the sun.
With its short, blunt snout and unique checkerboard pattern, this scaly creature — a skink — wasn't like the other 35 related species that call the mountains home.
This distinctive and elusive variety turned out to be a new species, belonging to a family of skinks known for having green blood, according to an April 15 study published in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa.
Since that 2009 sighting in the mountain meadow, Prasinohaema scurrula, or the scurrula skink, has scarcely been seen despite years of 'intensive surveys,' researchers said.
The species has been observed in three mid-mountain locations in central New Guinea at elevations between about 7,100 feet and 9,500 feet, according to the study.
Researchers observed a single skink at two of the three sites, one of which was in a tree, leading them to hypothesize the species may live in the forest canopy, making surveys more difficult and sightings rare, according to the study.
The skink is described as having a kite-shaped head, a blue mouth, and a 'robust' body covered in glossy scales with light and dark brown bands that create a checkerboard pattern down its back.Researchers said the pattern resembled the costumes historically worn by clowns and jesters, according to researchers. The name scurrula means small clown in Latin, according to the study.
The species' green blood, a characteristic of the Prasinohaema genus, is the result of 'extremely high concentrations of biliverdin,' according to the study. Biliverdin is a green pigmented compound in blood, also responsible for the greenish tint to bruises in humans.
While the scurrula skink is rarely seen and 'poorly understood', researchers said the species has an 'extensive suitable habitat' and 'no major current threats,' and should be given a status of Least Concern with The International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The research team included Alex Slavenko, Glenn Shea, Stephen Richards and Paul Oliver.
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