Status and observations of the critically endangered Turks Island Skink (Spondylurus turksae)

Abstract

The Turks Island Skink, Spondylurus turksae Hedges and Conn 2012, is endemic to the Turks Bank,
Turks and Caicos Islands, at the southeastern terminus of the Lucayan Archipelago in the greater Caribbean region. An
International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Assessment provided strong evidence that the
species’ range declined precipitously throughout the 20th century, and a status of Critically Endangered was assessed
in 2016. While previously found on several of the Turks Islands, the species was not documented between 1972 and
2008, when we discovered a new population on Cotton Cay. We report on the status of the Turks Island Skink based
on surveys of the Turks Cays from 2008 to 2022–2024. We found that the skink is likely restricted to a novel population
we report on Cotton Cay and that this is possibly the only remaining population of the species, reinforcing its
status as Critically Endangered. We further provide the first published photographs of live individuals of the species.