New chameleon species discovered

11/25/2009

I always find it so refreshing to hear about new species discovered. In this world we live in, it can seem we've already done it all, seen it all, and found it all but that's simply not true - as the recent new species discovered in Western Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Asia's Mekong Delta can attest. Now Discovery Animal News reports that scientists found a brand new species of chameleon in Tanzania, the same African country made famous by Jane Goodall's long-term studies of chimpanzees. Andrew Marshall from Britain's University of York discovered the new species quite accidentally. He found one of the reptiles in the mouth of a twig snake, which he disturbed while trekking through the forest in search of monkeys. The new species is now called the Magombera chameleon (Kinyongia magomberae). What do you think is the coolest species discovered this year?