Day Eighty-Five: lovely little lizard located

Oh, I had fun with that title... A really encouraging little story from the BBC today, about 3 new species of salamander that have been discovered in Costa Rica's La Amistad national park. The smallest, a 'dwarf salamander', is around an inch in length! (See the amazing photo here, courtesy of BBC online.) The 3 new species were identified by researchers from London's National History Museum working with Costa Rican scientists and officials. They have undertaken several expeditions to the area recently, funded by the UK's Darwin Initiative. Further trips are now planned, and the team expect to find yet more previously unknown species in due course. It's so great to hear news like this, when we hear so many other tales of species wiped out or threatened with extinction (often due to mankind's carelessness). And well done Costa Rica, yet again, for doing a better job than most in protecting the planet's biodiversity.

(ps - I do realize that someone is about to comment that salamanders aren't lizards or similar... wait for it...)