A new species of lizard with a tail longer than its entire body has been discovered in Peru.

The species- named ‘Proctoporus titans’ – was found in the Andes mountains in the country’s remote Cusco region.

Peruvian National Service of Natural Areas Protected by the State said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “This new species was found as part of the research study called ‘Species diversity and conservation status of amphibians and reptiles in Otishi National Park’, which seeks to contribute to the registration and identification of the diversity of amphibians and reptiles in this protected natural area.”

They added: “The discovery was made in a radius of 1.5 kilometres in the high Andean zone of the southern sector of the Park in the Cusco region between 3241 to 3269 meters of altitude. Their identification was made based on morphological and molecular characteristics.”

The statement went on: “This study was developed by biologists Edgar Lehr, Juan C. Cusi, Maura Fernandez, Ricardo J. Vera and Alessandro Catenazzi, with the support of Marco Antonio Mayta, park ranger of the Otishi National Park.

“The investigation was carried out between 17th and 29th May 2022 in one of the highest areas of the protected natural area, which can only be accessed by helicopter since it is inaccessible by land.”

The findings were published in the academic journal Taxonomy on 31st December with the title ‘A New Species of Proctoporus (Reptilia, Gymnophthalmidae, Cercosaurinae) from the Puna of the Otishi National Park in Peru’.