Lizards - Species Extinction

Illustration of the Cape Verde Giant Skink by J. Terrier from 1885. Males could reach a body length of around 50 centimeters, and females around 43 centimeters (including the tail). The weight of the animals was almost half a kilogram. (© J. Terrier, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-07-25 Doreen Fräßdorf

Cape Verde Giant Skink

Ilhas Desertas – The terra typica of the Cape Verde giant skink Organisms that occur in isolated ecosystems such as islands are often adapted to the extreme conditions prevailing there. They exhibit characteristics such as dwarfism or gigantism and often lack defensive mechanisms due to the absence of predators, setting

tongan ground skink (Tachygyia microlepis)

The Tongan ground skink is known from only two specimens that were collected on Tongatapu in the early 19th century. The species reached a snout-to-vent length of nearly 18 centimeters, plus the tail. (© Journal, German & Ineich, Ivan & Böhme, Wolfgang. (2024). Was it premature to declare the giant Tongan Ground Skink Tachygyia microlepis extinct?. Salamandra. 60. 82-93.)

2024-07-24 Doreen Fräßdorf

Tongan Ground Skink

From the South Pacific to the museum – The last Tongan ground skinks The Tongan ground skink, a giant lizard, is known only from two specimens that are now housed in the Natural History Museum of Paris. The French doctors and naturalists Jean-René-Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard collected the

Replica of the Gigarcanum or Kawekaweau gecko from the Lille Natural History Museum in France. (© Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Lille, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-05-30 Doreen Fräßdorf

Gigarcanum (Giant Gecko)

The largest gecko in the world… In the early 1980s, French museum employee Alain Delcourt discovered a forgotten specimen of a single stuffed giant gecko in the basement of the Natural History Museum of Marseille, which had previously been on public display for years. This species was previously unknown to