‘Cryptic’ creature with ‘window’ in its eyelid found on rock. It’s a new species
In the desert of Saudi Arabia, a “cryptic” creature with a “window” in its eyelid climbed along a pile of rocks. Its hard-to-reach home and camouflaged coloring helped it go unnoticed and, when occasionally found, be misidentified — until now.
As scientists recently discovered, it turned out to be a new species.
A team of researchers spent five years traveling throughout Saudi Arabia and Jordan as part of a project to survey reptile biodiversity, according to a study published July 1 in the peer-reviewed journal BMC Zoology.
During the searches, researchers encountered dozens of “cryptic”-looking lizards, the study said. The lizards sort of looked like a known species, but DNA analysis showed they were genetically distinct.
Researchers realized they’d discovered a new species: Mesalina cryptica, or the Arabian small-spotted lizard.
Arabian small-spotted lizards are considered “medium-sized,” reaching up to 6 inches in length, the study said. Their tails are significantly longer than their bodies, and their feet have one longer toe. Their lower eyelids have “a transparent window made up of two large scales.”
Photos show the brown coloring of the new species, which varies from “beige to dark brown.” Small black and white spots dot the lizards’ backs, and their tails have a slight blue tinge.
Researchers said they named the new species after the Latin word for “‘concealed’ or ‘hidden’” because it had been “overlooked” due to its visual similarity to other known species.
Arabian small-spotted lizards were “observed or captured in rocky or gravely habitats,” the study said. They were “typically encountered in flat areas of hard gravel with sparse shrubby vegetation and scattered rocks of varying sizes, using rock crevices for shelter.”
At some sites in Saudi Arabia, the lizards were seen “climbing steep scree slopes,” researchers said. In Jordan, the lizards lived “in flat deserts of volcanic black basalt rocks.”
Photos shared on MorphoBank by the researchers show the new species in its natural habitat.
Much about the lifestyle and behavior of the new species remains unknown.
Arabian small-spotted lizards have been found at dozens of sites in Saudi Arabia, a few sites in Jordan and one site in Kuwait, the study said. “Our understanding of the species’ real range is far from complete … It is very likely that the range of the species is continuous all the way from Jordan to Kuwait.”
The new species was identified by its size, body proportions, coloring and other subtle physical features, the study said. DNA analysis found the new species had at least 4% genetic divergence from related species.
The research team included Jiří Šmíd, Doubravka Velenská, Lukáš Pola, Karin Tamar, Salem Busais, Mohammed Shobrak, Mohammed Almutairi, Al Faqih Ali Salim, Saad Dasman Alsubaie, Raed Hamoud AlGethami, Abdulaziz Raqi AlGethami, Abdulkarim Saleh Alanazi, Ahmed Mohajja Alshammari, Damien Egan, Ricardo Ramalho, David Olson, Josh Smithson, Laurent Chirio, Marius Burger, Ryan van Huyssteen, Melissa Petford and Salvador Carranza.
This story was originally published July 8, 2025 at 2:06 PM with the headline "‘Cryptic’ creature with ‘window’ in its eyelid found on rock. It’s a new species."
