Poachers using science papers to target newly discovered species

Journals begin withholding locations after warnings the data is helping smugglers drive lizards, snakes and frogs to 'near-extinction'

Academic journals have begun withholding the geographical locations of newly discovered species after poachers used the information in peer-reviewed papers to collect previously unknown lizards, frogs and snakes from the wild, the Guardian has learned.

In an age of extinctions, scientists usually love to trumpet the discovery of new species, revealing biological and geographical data that sheds new light on the mysteries of evolution.