Rare Lizard Not Seen In Nearly Half A Century Rediscovered

One reason for the initial rarity of the Lyon’s grassland striped skink is that it had been confined to a very small area, making it particularly vulnerable to natural disasters such as bushfires, droughts, and disease. Despite the area experiencing fires since the last sighting, researchers believe the lizard species survived due to its habitat preference, which involves living in cracks beneath the soil.

Doctor Conrad Hoskin from James Cook University, a member of the Queensland skink expedition, expressed his excitement about the rediscovery and the possibility of finding the reptile in new locations. “I think we’ve worked out their habitat really well. And when you look at the imagery like on Google Earth, you can see a whole lot of similar areas,” he said of the lizard.