Petite Terre Skink

Petite Terre skinks grow to snout–vent lengths of 101 mm (4.0 in) in males and 103 mm (4.1 in) in females. The back is brown, maculated with numerous darker flecks, and slightly darker limbs. The sides have a dark brown band from the eyes to the back limbs, changing from a solid band to spots towards the middle and becoming more indistinct towards the posterior. There are two grey bands along the sides of the back. The underside is largely light beige and unmarked.

The Petite Terre skink is endemic to the island of Terre-de-Bas in the Îles de la Petite Terre, a small archipelago that is part of the French overseas department of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. The species was formerly more widespread, but now is mainly restricted to a single rock wall, around 460 m (1,500 ft) n length, found near the centre of the island. The island's native vegetation was mostly deforested centuries back, and the now-existing scrubland provides little food or cover for skinks. Besides the primary wall, where the population is estimated to number around 50 skinks, it is occasionally seen on other walls on the island. Its preference for walls may be due to the fact that they provide some ability to escape invasive black rats. The scientists describing the species recommended that it be classified as being critically endangered due to its exceedingly small distribution, which may be the smallest range of any vertebrate, degraded habitat, and ongoing predation from black rats.

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