Metallic-looking creature — with ‘window’ in its eyelid — discovered as new species
On a hot, humid day in northwestern Vietnam, a scaly creature with a “window” in its eyelids moved along the ground of the forest. Its remote home helped it go largely unnoticed.
But when visiting scientists found the metallic-looking animal, it turned out to be a new species.
Researchers hiked into the forest of Son La Province in 2013 to survey wildlife. “The biodiversity of this province is poorly studied,” so they hoped to find some interesting animals, according to a study published Feb. 10 in the peer-reviewed journal ZooKeys.
During their search, the team noticed several unfamiliar-looking lizards and caught them, the study said. They took a closer look and soon realized they’d discovered a new species: Scincella truongi, or Truong’s smooth skink.
Truong’s smooth skinks are considered “medium”-sized, reaching over 6 inches in length, the study said. Their heads have “obtuse” snouts and eyelids with an “opaque window.”
Photos show the “bronze” coloring of the new species. A brownish-black stripe runs along both sides of its body.
Truong’s smooth skinks were found during the day “on the ground in leaf litter of (an) evergreen forest,” the study said. Much about their lifestyle remains unknown.
Researchers said they named the new species after Truong Quang Nguyen, a scientist with the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, “in recognition of his great contributions to the herpetofaunal (reptile and amphibian) exploration of the Indochina region.”
So far, Truong’s smooth skinks have only been found in the Sop Cop Nature Reserve in Son La Province of northwestern Vietnam and near the border with Laos.
The new species was identified by its limb length, ear shape, scale pattern, coloring and other subtle physical features, the study said. DNA analysis found it had at least 17% genetic divergence from other related skink species.
The research team included Anh Van Pham, Thomas Ziegler, Cuong The Pham, Thao Ngoc Hoang, Hanh Thi Ngo and Minh Duc Le.
This story was originally published February 12, 2025 at 1:38 PM with the headline "Metallic-looking creature — with ‘window’ in its eyelid — discovered as new species."
