The Lazarus Lizard: Rediscovering Anolis levis After 150 Years
About this episode
We trace the 1876 description of Anolis levis by Edward Drinker Cope, its baffling disappearance, and the January 2026 Zootaxa rediscovery in Peru’s Huallaga River Valley. Explore that lizard’s bizarre rudimentary rostral appendage, what its comeback teaches us about the giant anoles of the dactyloa clade, and why hidden biodiversity persists under the rainforest canopy. Plus reflections on conservation, discovery, and the tools that help science see what’s been hiding in plain sight.
Note: This podcast was AI-generated, and sometimes AI can make mistakes. Please double-check any critical information.
Sponsored by Embersilk LLC
Get every episode summarized
Each time Intellectually Curious publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from Intellectually Curious
Free Pause Tokens Solve AI Multitasking
Intellectually Curious
Claude’s Autonomous Formalization of Fermat’s Last Theorem
Intellectually Curious
Random Attention: How AI Gets Faster by Forgetting
Intellectually Curious
The Alien Anatomy of the Bigfin Squid
Intellectually Curious