LAWRENCE — Kansas University graduate student Jesse Grismer has found a new species of lizard. He found it – fried and served with tomato and lettuce in restaurant in southern Vietnam in the Mekong River delta. He said he had heard reports of the lizard and tested the DNA of his chow. The restaurant owner put Grismer, his scientist father and a Vietnamese researcher in touch with the locals who were supplying the lizards to the menu. They got more lizards and were able to scientifically confirm they were a new species. Grismer also reports the new species tastes nothing like chicken. They named the new species of lizard after their Vietnamese colleague: Leiolepis ngovantrii.
Wednesday, Dec. 15, 11 a.m.
