Round Island skink
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| Round Island skink | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Leiolopisma telfairii Desjardins, 1831 |
The Round Island skink or Telfair's skink (Leiolopisma telfairii), is a species of skink endemic to Round Island (Mauritius). The next relatives of the genus Leiolopisma occur on New Caledonia and New Zealand. It is named after Charles Telfair, the founder of the Natural History Society of Mauritius. It is more distantly related to the two extinct Mascarenes taxa, L. mauritiana and the undescribed form of Réunion, than these are to each other.
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[edit] Description
It reaches a length between 30 and 40 cm. The body is general brownish grey mottled with dark brown spots. The small scales exhibit a rainbow-coloured shimmer when the sunlight is reflected on them. The body is approximately cylinder-shaped. It can cast its relatively long tail during a fight or to escape capture; the tail is regenerated after a while. Their short but vigorous legs are used to dig burrows.
[edit] Ecology
Its omnivorous diet consists of seeds, fruits, insects and small lizards. 'Cannibalism' is not unknown and the skinks may even kill their own young to eat them.
[edit] Status and conservation
This species was once numerous on Mauritius. Due to habitat destruction and introduced species like goats, black rats and rabbits it became extinct on the mainland of Mauritius. In 1978, 5000 specimens were recorded as surviving on Round Island. Thanks to the efforts of the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation and the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust as well as captive breeding programmes (e.g. in the Jersey Zoo), the numbers are now increasing.
[edit] References
- Austin, J.J. & Arnold, E.N. (2006): Using ancient and recent DNA to explore relationships of extinct and endangered Leiolopisma skinks (Reptilia: Scincidae) in the Mascarene islands. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39(2): 503–511. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.12.011 (HTML abstract)
- Madagascar Reptile & Amphibian Specialist Group (1996). Leiolopisma telfairii. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 17 Jul 2007. Database entry includes justification for why this species is vulnerable.
[edit] External links
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