The Sentence that Led to a Species Last Seen Over 100 Years Ago

The montane skink, a lizard species in Lumbo, Mozambique, was last spotted over a century ago and believed to be extinct — until a research project proved it was just very good at hiding, instead! 

Using scientists’ field notes created over a century ago, the researchers of the Extinct or Shy project were able to pinpoint where the montane skink might be found — largely with the help of one single sentence in naturalist Arthur Loveridge’s autobiography where he detailed a camp in the Lumbo Bay that the montane skink, known scientifically as Proscelotes Aenea, once inhabited. Within two weeks of finding the single sentence in Loverdige’s autobiography, researchers found four living montane skinks in Lumbo. 

Today, the montane skink is classified as “data deficient,” a term used by scientists when there is not yet enough data to know if a species is thriving or threatened. Lumbo itself has a growing human population and very little of the native vegetation remains. Once more data has been collected on the montane skink, researchers hope conservation efforts will be put in place to protect this Lumbo Bay species for years to come.