A rare skink not seen for more than 40 years has been found at Mount Surprise

A native skink which has eluded detection for the last 42 years has been found living on a mountain 300km south of Cairns.

A rare lizard thought to be extinct for more than 40 years has been found by a team of Queensland scientists in the small rural town about 300km inland from Cairns.

Scientists from Queensland Museum and James Cook University discovered the critically endangered Lyon’s grassland striped skink alongside two other highly threatened skink species at Mount Surprise as part of the federal government’s National Environmental Science Program’s Resilient Landscapes Hub

Lead scientist Dr Andrew Amey from the Queensland Museum Network said his team was thrilled with the findings, particularly the Lyon’s grassland striped skink which was recently added to the state and federal critically endangered lists.

“It was an exciting moment to find all three skinks, but to find the Lyon’s grassland striped Skink was an amazing discovery,” Dr Amey said.

“These lizards are all hard to find and seldom seen.

“They live in the cracks of black soil.

“The theory was too many cattle would remove the cracks and we were worried it was impacting the species.

“It’s encouraging to see that they can coexist,” he said.

The team also discovered the limbless fine-lined slider at the nearby Undara Volcanic National Park and the Mount Surprise slider, which was only seen in one paddock throughout their expedition.

Dr Andrew Amey and his team were tasked with finding the Limbless Fine-lined Slider (pictured) along with two other lizards in the Far North. Picture: Angus Emmott/ Queensland Museums

Fellow surveyor and JCU associate professor Conrad Hoskin said finding the elusive skink was critical to its survival.

“The skink was last seen in 1981 and was feared to be extinct,” Dr Hoskin explained.

“We now need to assess its full distribution and habitat requirements,” he added.

The surveyors suggested the lizards, which are currently only known to be located in the Mount Surprise area, could vanish if met with bushfires, drought, invasive weeds or disease.

“One event could potentially wipe out the species,” Dr Amey said.

“We need to know if these skinks have healthy populations or if they are declining.

“We can’t take effective action to protect them if we don’t know where they occur and what threats are impacting them,” he added.

The state government have awarded funding to the group to continue their work in surveying these skink species.

Dr Amey said his team hope to discover new habitats in the surrounding areas to Mount Surprise to gain confidence in the species’ survival.

Originally published as A rare skink not seen for more than 40 years has been found at Mount Surprise