"A Complete Enigma"—New Zealand Lizard Declared Extinct 130 Years After Only Sighting

"A Complete Enigma"—New Zealand Lizard Declared Extinct 130 Years After Only Sighting

5 years ago
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https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/a-complete-enigma-mdash-new-zealand-lizard-declared-extinct-130-years-after-only-sighting/

In 1887 the Belgian-British zoologist George Albert Boulenger, who famously named more than 2,000 species around the world, scientifically described a slim New Zealand lizard he called Oligosoma infrapunctatum—the speckled skink.

 

More than 130 years later, a new paper examines the genetics and morphology of speckled skinks from around New Zealand and comes up with a surprising conclusion: They’re actually at least six different species, one of which—ironically enough, the one first identified by Boulenger—may now be extinct.