Fruit Eating Komodo Dragon Relative Discovered in the Philippines
It is indeed, ONLY IN THE PHILIPPINES. We often refer to these lizards as BAYAWAK or BITATAWA in other local terms. Indigenous tribes such as the Agta as well as some of our rural people have found this lizard to be a tasty pulutan. There are also reports that this lizard specie is also found in the Southern provinces of Luzon such as Quezon and oftentimes, being sold as pets along the highway. Tsk.
The Philippines, known for its unique biodiversity showcasing diverse flora and fauna (and undoubtedly, some of them are yet to be discovered); has rendered another specie of lizard. This lizard whose scientific name is Varanus bitatawa or Northern Sierra Madre Forest Monitor Lizard (phew! that’s a mouthful!) is one of the only known three species of fruit eating lizard. Yes peeps, fruit eating lizard. Not only that, this lizard is also a relative of the famous Indonesian dragon – the Komodo Dragon.
Ang pambansang butiki ng Pilipinas. Sound epeks: Dyaranggggggg. 
In an article from Yahoo news:
The 6.5-foot (2-meter) -long lizard was first spotted in 2004 in the Sierra Madre mountains on the main island of Luzon when local researchers saw local Agta tribesmen carrying one of the dead reptiles.
But it took until last year to determine it was a new species. After capturing an adult, researchers from the University of Kansas and the National Museum of the Philippines obtained DNA samples that helped confirm the lizard was new to science.
The Northern Sierra Madre Forest Monitor Lizard or Varanus bitatawa feasts on fruits and snails rather than carcasses, unlike many monitors, including its larger relative, the Komodo dragon, according to American and Filipino researchers who wrote about the discovery in Wednesday’s peer-reviewed Royal Society journalBiology Letters. It spends much of its time in the treetops and has unique claws that allow it to reach its favorite fruits.
“I knew as soon as I saw the animal that it was something special,” Luke Welton, a graduate student at the University of Kansas and one of the co-authors of the study, said in a statement.
It is not that unusual to find a new species of tiny fish, frog or insect these days. But Welton and his colleagues said it was a “rare occurrence” to discover such a large vertebrate, particularly on an island hit by deforestation and nearby development. They compared their find to the 1993 discovery of the forest-dwelling Saola ox in Vietnam and a new monkey species discovered in the highlands of Tanzania in 2006.
“The discovery of such a large, charismatic, and strikingly distinct new species of vertebrate in the unexplored forests of the northern Philippines accentuates the degree to which the diversity of this global conservation hotspot is still poorly known,” Mundita Lim, chief of the country’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau, said in a statement.
I bet that with the discovery of this new lizard specie, there are more species of flora and fauna waiting to be discovered. I just hope that our government will provide enough legislation as a call to protect these species as well as educate our countrymen in the preservation and conservation of the species.
P.S.
How about the new pugita and tilapia species here in the blogosphere? Na-discover din ba nila? I hope they will. Hahhaha.
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silver is the blogger behind Dare to Speak Out, a personal and commentary blog.She graduated with a degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She posts blogs that ranges in different topics – from trivial to the political. She currently works as a freelance writer.
sana dumami pa sila
WAg lang yung mga utak pugita at tilapia dencios…hahhahah…
i just love it kapag may nadidiscover pang mga new species sa earth.
isang malaking patunay ito na there’s more to see sa ating planet! 
Yes Snow.
At kailangan mapangalagaan. Mapwera lang ang mga utak pugita at tilapia. Iboboto ko pang maging extinct na lang ang mga ganun. LOLZZZZ.
tama na yung bloggers na lang makadiskober sa utak tilapia at utak pugita. Wag na sayans… sayang lang panahon nila..hehehehehehe.. makaka-apekto pa sa kredibilidad nila…
Meron palang agta na native sa atin? alam ko agta in visayan dialect is kapre…. baka naman aeta yun.. nagkamali lang ng pindot…hahahahaha ulit…
Rainbow,
Agta is also one of kin tribes of the Aetas, along with the Dumagats. Yun ata ang tawag sa mga Aeta na nakatira sa North Sierra Madre.
anu ba specie ni paul farol? ha
monitor lizard, we call it halo here. ginagawang pulutan yan dito sa bicol. fruit eating daw? eh matakaw din sa manok ang mga yan.
hahaha.
haha! i agree Glo! i remember sa barrio namen, nilinis nang mga kwatro kanto boys ang mga yan at ginawa ngang pulutan dahil nga inuubos ang mga kamanukan hahaha
yeah lasang manok din nga daw yang monitor lizard.
hahaha. but i never dared taste it. di ko kaya.
hayst! same here! yong sawa nga di ba? lasang rabbit daw hahaha! kesehoda! kahit lasang jolibee pa sya, never akong kumakain nang karne sa barrio dahil baka ma-onse ako, aso pala hahaha
hahaha! pareho pala tayo. meticulous ako pagdating sa pagkain ng karne, takot din akong ma-onse na baka aso pala. yuck!
hahahaha.
may mga klase po ng monitor lizrd FYI. ang species na to ay hindi nakain ng manok. pakibasa po ng buo ang article at sub-links. baka yung sinabsabi nyong kumakain ng manok ay iyung kamagnak nya na madami talaga sa bicol.
@Silver,
Thanks for the info. I’ts nice to know that someone can share some good things worth knowing specially for our own country. Am some sort of observant with regards to different tribes in philippines and fond of studying their own cultures, belief and character. Aetas and Agta’s maybe are two different tribe. I have to research and look out on this. Thanks Silver.
I think this specie is different than those mentioned by writers in here. If this is a fruit-eating lizard, then it will never eat meat. This specie is a kind that somehow related but not the same as discussed in here. Those lizard that preys on chicken are long discovered – carnivorous kind and this one that was recently discovered is a herbivorous specie.
Actually, I am thinking that this creature is an omnivore – may eat meat on some occasions. However, the local people there revealed that it is, indeed, a fruit eating lizard and usually lives on the trees.
My mother, also told me that this lizard is fond of fruits – no wonder, local people in her village developed a taste for this creature. Since it eats fruits, therefore, they can consider the meat as clean.
It’s also fun to study local cultures and tribes here in our country. Just leave a question if you do have.
Thanks for dropping by my post.
Water monitor lizards ang kumakain ng manok. Scientific name:Varanus nuchalis. Mostly found in Cebu, Ticao, Negros, Panay and Masbate.
And yung yellow-headed water monitor which looks like the photo above.