“At first I thought it was a common species”, said Thy, who works as a herpetologist with the Ministry of Environment and Fauna & Flora International (FFI), “but looking closer I realised it was something I didn’t recognise.”

These cryptic species of reptile are easily overlooked and previous to this discovery there are no records for blind lizards occurring in Cambodia. The species was finally named the Dalai Mountain blind lizard Dibamus dalaiensis, after the mountain on which it was found.
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“For one of our national colleagues to discover this unusual species and make the description is particularly satisfying,” said Berry Mulligan, FFI’s Cambodia operations manager. “It shows that the capacity of Cambodian scientists is now reaching an international standard.”