Newly discovered lizards already close to extinction
The discovery of 24 new species of skink lizards on Caribbean islands has been tempered by fears that as many as half of the newly discovered species may either be in imminent danger of extinction or may be actually extinct already and the remainder are under serious threat. The research team, led by Professor Blair Hedges of Penn State University, published their findings in the journal Zootaxa in a 245 page article.
The addition of so many species to the known global species count simultaneously has not occurred since the 1800s, even though approximately 130 species of reptile are added each year. However, that they are in danger of extinction has provoked concern. Commenting, Prof Hedges explained that "According to our research, all of the skink species found only on Caribbean islands are threatened...That is, they should be classified in the Red List as either vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered. Finding that all species in a fauna are threatened is unusual, because only 24 percent of the 3,336 reptile species listed in the Red List have been classified as threatened with extinction. Most of the 9,596 named reptile species have yet to be classified in the Red List."
Responsibility for the species' current status has been attributed to predation by mongooses introduced to the Caribbean from India in 1872 to control rats in the sugarcane plantations of Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, the Lesser Antilles, and Puerto Rico. "By 1900, less than 50 percent of those mongoose islands still had their skinks, and the loss has continued to this day." noted Prof Hedges.
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
