Gongylomorphus borbonicus (Réunion Slit-eared Skink)

[sebbe67]

Gonglyomorphus bojerii borbonica

This was once a common skink species endemic to Reunion. it lived both on shores and in cultivated areas were it lived among rocks and grass.

The species was an egg-laying lizard and this may have made it more vulnerble to rats and mongooses.

Attempts to keep it in captivity failed. And the species was last seen in the 1880.

[sebbe67]

Source: The Doomsday book

[another specialist]

The Doomsday Book of Animals (English)
(ISBN: 0670279870)
Author: David Day

Just incase anyone wants to get the book

[slothlemur]

How big was it? Because i had read on a site of a Reunion giant Skink.

[another specialist]

slothlemur said:

How big was it? Because i had read on a site of a Reunion giant Skink.

What site was this?

I done a search in google for reunion giant skink and didn't find a seach result containing all 3 words together.

[another specialist]

But they weren't giants at all just an average sized skink

[Melanie]

there was a Giant skink on Mauritius but as far as i know not on Reunion.

[another specialist]

melanie said:

there was a Giant skink on Mauritius but as far as i know not on Reunion.

Found this the mauritius giant skink is Leiolopisma mauritiana but i've found references to a reunion sp Leiolopisma sp so this species may of been a giant too?

Using ancient and recent DNA to explore relationships of extinct and endangered Leiolopisma skinks (Reptilia: Scincidae) in the Mascarene islands.

Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2006 Feb 9;

Authors: Austin JJ, Arnold EN

Phylogenetic analysis, using 1455bp of recent mtDNA (cytochrome b 714bp, 12S rRNA 376bp) and nuclear (c-mos 365bp) sequence from 42 species and 33 genera of Scincidae, confirms Leiolopisma telfairii, now confined to Round island off Mauritius, is a member of the mainly Australasian Eugongylus group of the Lygosominae. Ancient mtDNA (cytochrome b 307bp, 12S rRNA 376bp) was also extracted from subfossils of two other Mascarene taxa that are now extinct: the giant L. mauritiana from Mauritius and Leiolopisma sp., known only from fragmentary remains from Réunion. Sequence divergences of 4.2-5.7% show that all three forms were distinct and form a clade. There is restricted evidence that L. mauritiana and L. sp. from Réunion were sister species. Monophyly and relationships suggest Leiolopisma arose from a single transmarine invasion of the oceanic Mascarene islands from Australasia, 5600-7000km away. This origin is similar to that of Cryptoblepharus skinks and Nactus geckos in the archipelago but contrasts with Phelsuma day geckos, which appear to have arrived from Madagascar where Mascarene Cylindraspis tortoises may also have originated. Diversification of the known species of Leiolopisma occurred from about 2.3-3.4 Mya, probably beginning on Mauritius with later invasion of Réunion. The initial coloniser may have had a relatively large body-size, but L. mauritiana is likely to have become gigantic within the Mascarenes. Other relationships supported by this investigation include the following. Scincines: Pamelaescincus+Janetaescincus, and Androngo (Amphiglossus, Paracontias). Lygosomines: Sphenomorphus group-(Sphenomorphus, Lipinia (Ctenotus, Anomalopus (Eulamprus and Gnypetoscincus))): Egernia group-Egernia (Cyclodomorphus, Tiliqua); Eugongylus group-(Oligosoma, Bassiana. (Lampropholis (Niveoscincus, Carlia))).

PMID: 16473026 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

www.dailybiomed.com/?cat=41&paged=2

[slothlemur]

Thanks for your help but I'm not shure in the moment if i had read Reunion or mauritius giant skink. Sorry but i also forgott the sites names it was for some time ago.

[another specialist]

The Mauritius giant skink is a pretty well known extinct giant but the Reunion giant skink is not almost unknown when it comes to available info on net. I guess it was more likely the Mauritius giant skink that you read about.

[another specialist]

A chalcidine skink, Gongylomorphus bojeri borbonicus became extinct around the same time, having
last been collected in 1839 (Cheke, 1987).

www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2008/f/z01705p050f.pdf

[Peter]

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 (biostor.org/reference/19518):

Abstract: The scincid lizard genus Gongylomorphus is endemic to the western Mascarene islands of Mauritius and Réunion in the southwest Indian Ocean, where its range was greatly reduced in the Nineteenth century, probably by an introduced southern Asian wolf snake (Lycodon aulicus capucinus) and perhaps other exotics. A phylogenetic analysis of the single recognised species of Gongylomorphus was conducted using 1473 bp of combined recent mtDNA and nuclear sequence (cytochrome b 714 bp, 12SrRNA 388 bp, c-mos 371 bp) from 40 individual Gongylomorphus and members of 13 scincid genera used as outgroups. The three recognised subspecies form monophyletic lineages that diverge by 7% for mtDNA and 0.8% for c-mos and, as they also differ in morphology, they are raised to species status here. G. fontenayi occurs in relict montane forest in southwest Mauritius and on neighbouring Flat Island; G. bojerii on this and other offshore islands north and southeast of Mauritius; and the sister of this last species, G. borbonicus was found on Réunion where it became extinct by about 1840. Phylogenetic topology suggests the ancestor of Gongylomorphus originated in Madagascar or possibly Africa, colonising Mauritius from the west and speciating there as long as 3Ma, before a propagule from the G. bojerii lineage invaded Réunion < 2.1Ma to produce G. borbonicus. On and around Mauritius, moderate mtDNA variation exists within and between populations. Extant G. bojerii have two main haplogroups differing by ~ 1.7%: one on the northern offshore islands (Gunners Quoin, Flat, Gabriel, Round and Serpent islands, and Pigeon House Rock) and the other in the southeast (Ilot Vacoas). But homologous sequence from a recently extinct population on Ile aux Fouquets and subfossil bones from at least one mainland site indicates that members of both haplogroups originally occurred together in the southeast. Although the G. bojerii population on Serpent Island is morphologically distinct, it is genetically undifferentiated from neighbouring populations. In G. fontenayi, a more robust orange-tailed population occurs on Flat Island over 60 km away from the remaining ones in the southwestern mountains of Mauritius but diverges from these by only 1.7% in mtDNA sequence. Subfossil material in the intervening area appears to represent intermediate haplotypes and confirms original continuity. These examples show that relict and limited material can mislead about the distinctness of allopatric populations.

[Sebbe]

This species was endemic to Réunion (Austin et al. 2009).

This species is reported as having once been abundant in some areas of Réunion, from which it was last reported in 1839 (Austin et al. 2009). Its extinction has been attributed to the introduction of the Wolf Snake Lycodon capucinus, which is known to have been "well-established" on the island by 1840 (Austin et al. 2009).

www.iucnredlist.org/species/17023321/17023353#population