Bizarre worm lizard not seen for 90 years found by landmine removers

Bizarre worm lizard not seen for 90 years found by landmine removers

Life

A subspecies of the Somali sharp-snouted worm lizard was found by a landmine clearance team, the first official sighting since 1931

By Chen Ly


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A subpecies of the Somali sharp-snouted worm lizard has a distinctive pointy head

Mark Spicer

A rare worm lizard has been rediscovered by scientists after a landmine clearance team spotted the elusive animal in Somaliland.

A subspecies of the Somali sharp-snouted worm lizard (Ancylocranium somalicum parkeri) was first reported by scientists in 1931 in the region that is now Somaliland, an unrecognised state that has broken away from the rest of Somalia. There were then no official sightings of the lizard over the following nine decades.

Last month, Mark Spicer at the…

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