It may be an old menu standby to Vietnamese diners, but it's turned into a smorgasbord of discovery for scientists. (And you thought the Commons & Regatta's food was bad! I feel nauseous...)
Researchers have identified a previously undocumented species of all-female lizard in the Mekong River delta that can reproduce itself by cloning, and the story of how it was discovered is almost as exotic as the animal itself.
'Leiolepis ngovantrii' is a small lizard found only in southern Vietnam. A Vietnamese reptile scientist who came across tanks full of the remarkably similar looking reptiles at small diners in rural villages in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province became intrigued when he noticed that all of the lizards appeared to be female.
So the scientist, Ngo Van Tri of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, contacted an American colleague, a herpetologist at La Sierra University in California, who immediately dropped everything to come out and assess the find.
After the long flight and a grueling two-day motorcycle trip out to a restaurant where the owner promised to set aside a stash of the creature for study, they were faced with a little problem, says Grismer:
"Unfortunately, the owner wound up getting drunk, and grilled them all up for his patrons... so when we got there, there was nothing left." ---> To which I reply: LOL =)
After contacting local cafes for the rare delicacy and hiring children to track down as many lizards as possible, they had a surplus of about 60 and were able to perform DNA sampling. Little did they know that this rare species packed another surprise: all of the lizards were female and clones of their mother! ---> To which I reply: STFU!
For the full article, click here to clone your mom =)
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