Good-looking ones have no personality(?)
I said this was my childhood dream lizard. And, I also said blue is the rarest color in animals. But no, this lizard didn’t hold a special place in my heart only by its looks. Eye candies ain’t my thing (tho funny to say that in the gram). It’s special to me because we have something in common deep down, and we are both misjudged by the looks.
Good-looking ones have no personality. And what? Ugly ones have good personalities(?) Could be right most of the time. But generalization and stereotypical thoughts are harmful to the one in a zillion. This lizard proves to me that good-looking ones can have even greater personalities.
Blue is the rarest color in animals. You might already know that. But why?
Unlike other colors, Blue in reptiles is NOT a pigment, but a trick to human eyes. It’s produced by having other wavelengths of light canceled but only blue being bounced through reflective cells called iridophores on the skin of only a few species on earth.
In spite of looking extravagantly beautiful to the point that many might mistake it for being ostentatiously flashy, it has zero intention of flexing. Matter of fact, it’s been trying so hard to stay away from the crowd – A reclusive, hermetic and secluded lifestyle, however, of natural-born ornate appearance.
Monitor lizards are generally powerful, fearless in front of humans and widespread throughout SE Asia. But just not this unusual one.
The Blue Tree Monitor (Varanus macraei), or the blue-spotted tree monitor, is a fragile, timid, and uncommon species that can only be found in Batanta, a small island in Irian Jaya of Indonesia. Its natural range is among the smallest of all monitors. This species had been hiding successfully for over 66 million years. The species was known to science for a mere 19 years and not too much is known still today.
It was my childhood dream lizard to die for. Now having this literally in hand, this is the Blue Monday I love 💙
