More good news for the world's species diversity numbers! Another discovery of a new species of skink has been discovered on the island Abd al Kuri one of three Socotra islands right of the coast of Somalia. Named after the woman who find the large skink under a bush, the scientific name is Trachylepis cristinea. The newly discovered skink is now one of five reptiles only found on the small island of Abd al Kuri. The Socotra Islands are said to not have lost any of its endimic species of reptiles, birds, and mollusks. Hopefully the Yemen government will take care of these wonderful islands and realize how important it is to preserve such precious life systems. If mismanaged the islands could see substantial loss of habitats for their rare and native species.
This article can be seen at: http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0425-hance_socotra.html
2 comments:
I think studying the herps from these islands would be very interesting. Like Darwin's research, one would be able to look from island to island in the archipeligo and see differences between coloration, feeding, and mating habits.
Skinks galore!
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