14 DAY TRIAL // A recent paper in the journal ZooKeys details the discovery of a new lizard species in cloud forests in Ecuador's northwestern regions.
Mongabay tells us that this newly discovered lizard species, a picture of which is available above, is now known to the scientific community as Alopoglossus viridiceps.
As noticeable in the photo, the reptiles seem to have an adoration for makeup, especially green one, which they like to smear all over their face to obtain an emerald-like look.
Oddly enough, I dare say that this look suits them just fine, so I suppose nobody could ever even dream about mocking them for their (lack of) sense of style.
One other anatomical peculiarity that Alopoglossus viridiceps displays is that, rather than being covered in scale-like papillae, its tongue is covered in several folds.
The researchers who found this previously unknown species explain that Alopoglossus viridiceps is a shade lizard, meaning that it lives in leaf litter found in Ecuador's high elevation forests.
The trouble is that, since this country's forest coverage has been steadily declining over the past years, it might happen that these reptiles and others of their kind will one day go extinct.
All in all, the scientific community has until now documented the existence of seven different Alopoglossus lizard species. Of these, six call Ecuador their home.