Thought to be extinct, scientists have rediscovered a Pinocchio anole lizard in Ecuador Nature World News reported.
"After looking for so long It was very thrilling to find this lizard" Alejandro Arteaga, a co-founder of the educational and ecotourism company Tropical Herping told Live Science.
After searching for three long years, Arteago and his team found the lizard in a cloud forest in the northwestern part of the country Fox News reported. Finding the lizard was especially important to Arteaga and his team since it was the last image needed to complete their book, "The Amphibians and Reptiles of Mindo," a rural region a two-hour drive north of Quito, Ecuador's capital. The book was published this summer.
"We wanted to find it because it is a fantastic and mysterious creature that has remained unknown for almost all human beings for decades," Tropical Herping co-founder Alejandro Arteaga told Destination Ecuador.
According to Fox News, the lizard was first discovered in 1953, and named after the popular wooden puppet. The species, which had gone unseen since 1960, was spotted in 2005 by an ornithologist who saw the reptile crossing a road in Ecuador. The lizard's nose-like appendage is found only in males and is used by females for picking the best mate.
Looking for the lizard requires a lot of night-time work since that is when the lizard's color fades, and decreases the chances of the creature running away Live Science reported. In January, one of Arteaga's team members located a single male Pinocchio anole hanging onto a branch over a stream. After the discovery, the team kept it overnight before photographing it in the morning in its natural habitat.
Pinocchio anoles, which are an endangered species, have been found along single stretches of roads according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a global environmental group.
