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Fig. 1. Habitat of Voeltzkowia rubrocaudata: corn plantation (in foreground) near the village of Andranomaitso, Commune rurale de Sakaraha.
Fig. 2. Voeltzkowia rubrocaudata individual (MRSN R3726) in life from Andranomaitso village, southwestern Madagascar, found on the 11 December 2009: A. dorso-lateral overview; B. dorsal view; C. head close up; D. individual burrowing in the substrate.
Photos by Gonçalo M. Rosa.
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Abstract
Voeltzkowia is a monophyletic genus of burrowing skinks endemic to Madagascar. The fossorial habits of these species make them hard to see and study, and witness their life history traits. During two herpetological surveys in southwestern Madagascar (in 2009 and 2011) we found several Voeltzkowia rubrocaudata individuals in a corn plantation, a habitat that differs from the forested habitat reported in the literature. Life colouration for this shy scincid is described for the first time.
Key words. Southwestern Madagascar, corn plantation, Squamata, Scincidae.
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| Fig. 2. Voeltzkowia rubrocaudata individual (MRSN R3726) in life from Andranomaitso village, southwestern Madagascar, found on the 11 December 2009: A. dorso-lateral overview; B. dorsal view; C. head close up; D. individual burrowing in the substrate.
Photos by Gonçalo M. Rosa.
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Gonçalo M. Rosa, Paolo Eusebio Bergò, Angelica Crottini & Franco Andreone. 2012. Report on the Life Colouration of the enigmatic Burrowing Skink Voeltzkowia rubrocaudata (Grandidier, 1869) from southwestern Madagascar. Bonn zoological Bulletin. 61 (1): 31–34