‘Extinct’ Pinocchio Lizard Spotted In Ecuador For Third Time Since 2005; Now Endangered Species

The Pinocchio Lizard was once believed to be extinct, but was recently spotted in Ecuador for the third time since 2005. Now the Pinocchio Lizard is believed to be an endangered species, and no longer extinct.

The elusive Pinocchio anole is a species of lizard that was believed to have been extinct for over 50 years, but photographers and researchers found the Pinocchio Lizard in one of Ecuador's cloud forests after three years of searching, Fox News Latino reports.

It was first discovered in 1953 but had not been seen since the 1960s.

According to Fox News Latino, an ornithologist saw a Pinocchio Lizard crossing a road in the same remote area in northwest Ecuador in 2005.

This most recent discovery of the Pinocchio lizard is only the third time it has been spotted since 2005, said Alejandro Arteaga, a co-founder of the educational and ecotourism company Tropical Herping.

"After looking for so long ... It was very thrilling to find this strange lizard," said Arteaga, whose company conducted the search for the lizard, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

The team then let the animal go.

Pinocchio anoles (Anolis proboscis) are an endangered species and have been found in only four locations, mostly along a single stretch of road, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a global environmental group, Fox News reports.

So how did they find the Pinocchio Lizard? Steve Poe, a researcher at the University of New Mexico and an expert at finding hard-to-spot lizards, said they aren't hard to find if you know where to look, National Geographic reports.

The lizards sleep at the end of branches and turn a pale white color. Poe's team discovered that they were easily spotted at night with headlamps or flashlights, according to the National Geographic.

The lizard's nose-like appendage is a sexually selected trait that likely serves no other purpose but to advertise a male's good genes. Pinocchio lizard females do not have such "noses," Fox News reports.

The Pinocchio lizard is named after the famous wooden puppet with a nose that grows with every lie he tells.