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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 8:21 pm
Time: 8:21 pm
Results for lizards
1 results foundAuthor: Nijman, Vincent Title: Keeping an ear to the ground: Monitoring the trade in earless monitor lizards Summary: An unusual and little-known monitor lizard from Borneo that has captured the interest of reptile collectors is emerging as the latest victim of the global illicit wildlife trade, an investigative report by TRAFFIC warns. Lanthanotus borneensis or the Earless Monitor Lizard had long remained virtually unknown to the outside world due to its subterranean habits and limited distribution in north-western Borneo. Unknown, that is, until recently gaining attention from unscrupulous reptile collectors. Earless Monitor Lizards have no external ear opening, a cylindrical lengthened body covered in scaly tubercles (due to an increased number of vertebrae), small limbs, a prehensile tail, a forked tongue, and small eyes with the lower eyelid covered by translucent "windows". As such it is placed in its own monospecific family Lanthanotidae. The small, orange-brown lizard with beaded skin was once primarily of interest to scientists because of its unique adaptations for living below ground, and there were few instances of private ownership reported during the last 30 years. However, there has been a sudden emergence in the trade of this species over the past two years. Through its research, TRAFFIC detected international trade in Earless Monitor Lizards that has largely been carried out online from 2013 onwards. Specific instances mentioning the species were documented on forums and social networking sites in Japan, the Ukraine, France, Germany and the Czech Republic. The study found specimens being offered for sale online across Europe and received intelligence about a significant off-take of the animals from the wild. This was corroborated by discussions in online forums on the availability of the animals for sale, where there were frequent references to the lizard as being the "Holy Grail" of the reptile collecting world. Details: Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia: TRAFFIC, 2014. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: A Traffic Report: Accessed September 15, 2014 at: http://www.traffic.org/home/2014/9/8/international-smuggling-threatens-the-holy-grail-of-the-rept.html Year: 2014 Country: Asia URL: http://www.traffic.org/home/2014/9/8/international-smuggling-threatens-the-holy-grail-of-the-rept.html Shelf Number: 133309 Keywords: Endangered AnimalsLizardsWildlife ConservationWildlife CrimeWildlife Trafficking |