Rothschild’s skink is one of several species in the genus Paracontias which, diverged from all other living species more than 30 million years ago!
It is part of the Scincidae family, which last shared a common ancestor with other lizards 80 million years ago, about the time that humans and slow lorises shared a common ancestor.
All individuals are in a single location, and their range is less than 100 km². This species is found within dune habitat that may soon be mined, therefore habitat loss and degradation is likely to be a major threat for this species. The forested areas are also under pressure due to charcoal production and agricultural conversion, as well as the harvesting of tubers.
There are no known species-specific conservation measures in place for this species. The establishment of protected areas would be a conservation priority to reduce habitat loss.
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Population: Unknown
Trend:unknown
EDGE Score
EDGE Score: 5.69 (?)
ED Score: 17.510 (?)
GE / IUCN Red List(?)
NENot EvaluatedDDData DeficientLCLeast ConcernNTNear ThreatenedVUVulnerableENEndangeredCRCritically EndangeredEWExtinct in the WildEXExtinct
Distribution
This species is found in northern Madagascar.
Habitat and Ecology
This species is a sand dweller in coastal dunes. It can be found on sandy ground in degraded coastal dry forest.
The EDGE score is used to prioritise EDGE species for conservation attention. Within a group of species, higher values mean that the species is a higher priority. The score is calculated by combining the ED and GE scores given below. The black line on the EDGE bar shows the mean EDGE score for all species in this taxonomic group, so you can see how high this species’ EDGE score is compared to the rest of the group.
ED is the Evolutionary Distinctiveness of this species, measured in millions of years. This number represents the unique evolutionary history surviving in this species. The black line on the ED bar shows the median ED score for all species in this taxonomic group, so you can see how high this species’ ED score is within compared to the rest of the group.
The Global Endangerment (GE) or IUCN Red List category, describes how close this species is to becoming extinct. Species that are Vulnerable, Endangered, or Critically Endangered are considered to be at significant risk of extinction.
