A lizard that has not been seen in Australia in over 40 years has been rediscovered in Queensland, according to a report in Yahoo News. The Lyon's grassland striped skink was last spotted in the wild in 1981. It has so far been known only from specimens stored in a museum. An expedition was launched by researchers from Queensland Museum and experts from James Cook University in April to find rare lizards. But the team was not sure if they will stumble upon the rare species.
The researchers set up traps across a five square kilometre area wading through high grass on a farmland near Mount Surprise, some 300km south of Cairns.
This was the same area where the skinks were last documented.
"Our mission was basically to see whether they were alive. And so we targeted the one spot it was known to occur," Queensland Museum's Dr Andrew Amey told Yahoo News.
"It's hard work surveying for them, you have to dig in to set pit traps in the black soil which sets like concrete very quickly. You can't visually survey for them because of the grass, so you just have to set the traps and be patient," he added.
The team also found two other rare species - the limbless Mount Surprise slider and the fine-lined slider. All these worm-like lizards are known for their legs that have been reduced as an adaptation to their sandy environment.
The Lyon's grassland striped skink has been listed by Queensland and the Commonwealth as critically endangered.
According to Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) of the Australian government, the lizard can reach up to a length of 51 mm (from snout to vent). It is dark brown in colour with 10-14 pale narrow stripes that can vary from clearly visible, to short and barely discernible.
The tail of the species is straw-coloured, the Australian government body further said.
