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This tiny lizard found in Tamil Nadu is named after Vincent Van Gogh
Updated On: 07 April, 2024 06:07 AM IST | Mumbai | Mitali Parekh
Thackeray Wildlife Foundation, and a team that included Uddhav’s second son Tejas, found a jaunty, tiny lizard in Tamil Nadu whose coat resembles an iconic Dutch painting
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Cnemaspis vangoghi
We`re in the middle of the sixth mass extinction of species—alas not human—and so it becomes even more crucial to identify what we have before it goes away.
The Thackeray Wildlife Foundation comprising Akshay Khandekar, evolutionary biologist Dr Ishan Agarwal, Tejas Thackeray, Swapnil Pawar, Vivek Waghe, and Satpal Gangalmale named the formally recognised two new species of geckos on the southern end of the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu last week. The foundation is a non-profit organisation, linked to the Thackerays of Sena (UBT).
These geckos were found in Srivilliputhur Megamalai Tiger Reserve two years ago, and the serendipitously, their formal recognition and naming as a newly-discovered species coincided with impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh’s March 30 birthday. The male specimen of the now formally called Cnemaspis vangoghi has light blue stripes that swirl through the darker areas of the body, much like the Dutch artist’s famous painting, The Starry Night. The female is boring brown, with earth coloured spots and patterns, giving credit to the theory that Mother Nature is gay man.
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