The azure-tailed skink was thought to be extinct from Hawaiʻi when it was last catalogued on Kauaʻi in the 1960s, but after nearly 50 years it was rediscovered on Mokapu islet off the northern coast of Molokaʻi in 2000.
University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Professor Emeritus William Mautz visited the site in 2017 and found two dozen azure-tailed skinks. He went back again in 2020 and observed four of the lizards near a cliff edge.
He wrote about his findings in a recently published article in Herpetological Review.
While the azure-tailed skinks are technically not native to Hawaiʻi because there are no pre-human fossilized remains, they are considered “canoe lizards” because they came to the islands with Polynesian voyagers.
These blue-tailed creatures prefer to live at the edge of forests, but they are being driven to live near the edge of cliffs due to habitat loss. Cliff edges expose the species to more predators.
Invasive fire ants are aggressive predators that also threaten their existence. They can alter the lives of small animals living near their nest by taking food sources.
