Extinct or Shy

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Extinct or Shy

A quest to find two of the least known skinks in East Africa.

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Latest News

Another article in “The Conversation”

One sentence in a book leads researchers to a species not seen in over 100 years. Link here

We found the Montane skink (Proscelotes aenea)!

Photos here!
News on the Rufford’s website here!

We kept a pregnant Proscelotes aenea and it gave birth!

Photos here!

Our Project made it to “The Conversation”

Search for elusive skinks is filling gaps in Mozambique’s biodiversity data. Link here

The Species

The skinks Scolecoseps boulengeri and Proscelotes aenea are two of the most mysterious skinks in East Africa. They were both collected in two cities of Mozambique (Pemba and Lumbo) in the early 20th century in high numbers with very low sampling effort.

The Boulenger’s limbless skink (Scolecoseps boulengeri) is a skink that has no legs. Only three other species exist in the genus but unlike the other species, we have no clue about its biology and habitat. Both collections from Lumbo (1918) and Pemba (1948) have no accompanying information about where exactly they were found or in which habitat.
The Montane skink (Proscelotes aenea), gained this name because the other two members of its genus are all restricted to Mountains. Although, the on in Lumbo is not. The species have been collected in both Lumbo (1918) and Pemba (1948) and the only information we have was that in Lumbo they were found while clearing the land to build their campsite.

Where We Are

What We Do

Trapping

We have a permanent trapping system in 5 sites spread-out in Lumbo so we can cover as much habit as possible.

Search

While our traps are catching frogs, lizards and snakes, we also actively search for species by lifting rocks or digging.

Preservation

Not much is known in terms of biodiversity in Northern Mozambique, so we are building a reference collection of the species we are encountering.

Our project in numbers

365

Sampling duration

12

Amphibians

30

Reptiles

50%

Project completeness

2022-04-14T19:00:00

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

Last day of Sampling

Our galleries

The team in the field
Amphibians
Reptiles
Montane skink

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Follow us on instagram @eos_lumbo
An harmless Rufous beaked snake (Rhamphiophis rostratus) feeding on a House gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia). Even though it may look a bit scary, their bites don’t hurt at all. They feed on ants and termites. Mozambique’s Agama. Agama mossambica (Mozambique’s agama). They feed exclusively on ants and termites. Photo by @alilucianopuruleia Cryptoblepharus africanus (Coral rag skink). A new record for the project. They live on the coral rag and feed on crustaceans. They colonized pretty much all the Indian Ocean coastline in Africa all the way to Australia. Off course, different regions will have different species of Cryptoblepharus. Photo by @alilucianopuruleia A shrew that fell into our pitfall traps. What a great photo of a house gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia). Trachylepis boulengeri on a banana leaf These ants are super common in Mozambique. Their abdomen tastes like lemon. But the locals say that if you eat their head you will get headaches! Let’s see if it’s true! Tinker bell reed frog (Hyperolius tuberlinguis). They change color! At night they are bright yellow! Stay tuned!