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Lizard Previously Unknown To Science Found On Vietnam Menu

Posted by samzenpus on from the try-the-bigfoot-burger dept.

eldavojohn writes "A lizard long served on the menu in the Mekong Delta has recently caught the attention of scientists when it was noted that all animals in the species appeared identical as well as female. The species appears to be a hybrid of two other species (like a mule or liger). But the curious thing is that this hybrid isn't sterile — it reproduces asexually. The species, known for some time in Vietnam, has now officially been named Leiolepis ngovantrii."

28 of 133 comments (clear)

  1. Leiolepis ngovantrii? by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Leiolepis ngovantrii, That's a mouthful. And a delicious mouthful too.

    1. Re:Leiolepis ngovantrii? by snookerhog · · Score: 4, Funny

      translates to "good with bean sprouts and green onion"

  2. TERRIBLE RESTAURANT!!!!! by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 4, Funny

    You got a Lizard on the Menu? I had a fly in the soup!

    No tip from me, that's for sure. And I'm telling all my friends about this!

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
    1. Re:TERRIBLE RESTAURANT!!!!! by LongearedBat · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Mmmm... witchetty grubs. =b..
      Info

  3. Re:Hmmm.. what if by Mitchell314 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Us geeks would actually be able to reproduce?

    --
    I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
  4. Biggest question not answered! by Kenja · · Score: 4, Funny

    How does it taste?

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:Biggest question not answered! by brokeninside · · Score: 2, Funny

      Like chicken.

    2. Re:Biggest question not answered! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Quoting the CNN article
        Grismer complained that he had to hold his breath while eating the local dish to appear polite to the restaurant owners.
      "You take a bite out of it and it feels like something very old and dead in your mouth," he said.

    3. Re:Biggest question not answered! by mekongdelta · · Score: 5, Informative

      It tastes quite good, really. It tastes best when fried. It is crispy and sweet, like snakes. I used to hunts these lizards and ate them once in a while but back then (more than 20 years ago) few people ate them unless they had Asthma. It is an effective medicine to treat Asthma.

    4. Re:Biggest question not answered! by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 4, Funny

      Ah. Like KFC then.

      --
      No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
    5. Re:Biggest question not answered! by bronney · · Score: 2, Funny

      my mind wanders..

    6. Re:Biggest question not answered! by mekongdelta · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I really enjoy your comments! I am a long time /. reader but have never posted a comment. Yes, I created this account to specifically post my comments on this topic. I am a native Vietnamese speaker too who used to live in Can Tho city - a city that is right at Mekong Delta. When I was a teenager hunting these lizards was my favorite activity after school. They run very fast, they are usually on the ground but they can climb trees as fast. And their bites can be lethal, or so I thought (there was a rumor that when they bite you, you had to drink a mouthful of water quickly; otherwise, if the lizards drink the water before you do, you die ! :-( Like I said their meat tastes quite good, actually very good (otherwise, they wouldn't be on the menu) but the main reason I like to hunt them because catching them are fun andI can sell them for a few bucks (we call it Dong in Vietnam)

  5. Re:I'll take one by eviloverlordx · · Score: 3, Funny

    Lizard: The other white meat.

    --
    'Loose' is when your pants are three sizes too big. 'Lose' is when you misuse 'loose'.
  6. Re:Hmmm.. what if by icebike · · Score: 4, Funny

    Get pretty crowded in the basement wouldn't it?

    --
    Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
  7. Re:Hmmm.. what if by The+Pirou · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Who is to say we don't? Parthenogensis, while generally (allegedly) uncommon outside of invertebrates, is nothing new. If one were given to biblical pontifications, you could say that it's even been documented in humans. I'm more inclined to believe that things I've read in books that were several thousand years old were written due to lies made by an ashamed couple, but given the lack of 'medical science' that we presently have compared to then, I would be a fool to completely write it off. If it's still happening in Komodo's & Boa constrictors, I don't see why it couldn't happen (albeit rarely) in other ranks of Biological Classifications as well.

  8. Iguana on a Stick Eh? by BJ_Covert_Action · · Score: 5, Funny

    "What's that? You're selling Iguana on a stick? Give me a second to get another Nuka-Cola out of the fridge first."

    ;)

    Alternative allusion:
    "You eat one Iguana on a Stick.
    +25 hit points.
    Temporary +1 to Science skill"

    --
    Motorcycles, Robots, Space Gossip and More!
  9. Be glad we got to see it... by Lead+Butthead · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Be glad we got to see it before we eat it into extinction (too.)

    --
    ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
  10. Unknown to Science... by icebike · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Usually means unknown to western science.

    I'm sure some ancient biologist documented them but it was never translated to English, if written at all. Its hard enough for the casual observer to tell a lizard's gender that nobody even noticed.

    Rural people, even western people, see things every day in their environment that they assume is well known, and never bother to document. When noticed "scientists" it somehow becomes a discovery.

    Someone "Discovered" America. Those already living in America at the time "Discovered" large sailboats at about the same time. Perspective.

    --
    Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    1. Re:Unknown to Science... by Bowling+Moses · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Rural people, even western people, see things every day in their environment that they assume is well known, and never bother to document. When noticed "scientists" it somehow becomes a discovery."

      There's a reason for that. If you or I or a local group of people know something, great. But it's local, and limited, and easy to wipe out. Once that knowledge escapes that small group, either by the actions of that group or by an external factor it becomes something greater: part of the shared knowledge of humanity from which someone with no connection to the initial source of information can nonetheless make use of. For instance I'm working on a paper with a Chinese collaborator about the traditional use of certain plants by local farmers to combat pest insects. We're describing what those local farmers are doing (and probably have been doing for centuries) and providing an additional biochemical perspective; this knowledge will for the first time be available globally. It could lead to new insecticides, or perhaps the wider adoption of these plants themselves as organic insecticidal agents, and either or both could be done far outside the isolated community in which the use of these plants was found. This work is just a tiny part of a much larger, decades-long, global research effort by thousands of scientists (note lack of scare quotes) to try and take traditional medicine and other practices (including westerners: aspirin, for example), discover what works, how it works, and make that knowledge generally available. How's that for some perspective?

  11. sexual reproduction by alphastrike · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That's interesting, sexual reproduction is meant to increase genetic variation within a population and adapting to evolutionary changes. An animal that forgoes this process and clones itself to reproduce must of had genetic defects already weeded out from the gene pool at large. It might have perfectly adapted to survive in its surroundings, without experiencing harsh evolutionary demands. If this lizard has been around for millions of years, it might be interesting to analyze genetic variance of individual lizards, and see how many original lines exist within the population. After all if they are clones, it's possible that the entire species is consisted of clones descended from ONE individual! That's pretty rad stuff for the animal kingdom.

  12. AHAHAHA - WHAT? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    A female lizard that reproduces asexually? Sounds more like a lez-zard than a liz-zard amirite? Hi-five!
    ...
    ...
    (c'mon yer leavin' me hangin'...)

    .

  13. Re:Hmmm.. what if by somersault · · Score: 4, Funny

    Would make LAN parties slightly easier to organise at least.

    --
    which is totally what she said
  14. apropos Jurassic Park quote by Spectre · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dr. Wu: "You're implying that a group composed entirely of female animals will breed?"

    Ian: "No. I'm simply saying that life, uh, finds a way."

    Wow, Ian was right again ...

    --
    "Flame away, I wear asbestos underwear"
  15. Predicted by The Onion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-delicious-species-discovered,1331/

  16. cloning means you do not need to be perfect at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Cloning does not mean you must be perfect. The clone is genetically just as good as the parent, so you only must be able to live.

    The big advantage of sexual reproduction is that you get much more combinations, i.e. you can combine your faults much better and carry around a much bigger amount of faults.

    So clones are usually better, but only as long as the rules do not change. Once a fault gets a bonus because it gives you some immunity to some illness, the clones have a hard time, because they do not collect new faults that easily...

  17. Are they served "RARE?" by Trip6 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Thanks, I'm here all week.

    --
    I hate being bipolar; it's awesome!
  18. According to which definition of species? by srussia · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Species problem

    --
    Set your phasers on "funky"!
  19. Re:Hmmm.. what if by lul_wat · · Score: 4, Funny

    Josef Fritzl is that you??

    --
    Divide a cake by zero. Is it still a cake?