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Each morning, the phone rings, several times in a row, while the students send photo after photo of the snakes, frogs and lizards that were caught in various traps the day before. We scroll through the images. Again – no Scolecoseps boulengeri. No Proscelotes bronze.
These two burrowing skinks – a type of lizard – were discovered in Lumbo, northern Mozambique, in the 1920s. During this period, naturalists often made use of the infrastructure readily available at military bases during the campaign. East Africa from World War I as base camps for sampling. But then the war ended and naturalists stopped collecting at these sites. After that, the two species of skinks, believed to be endemic to Mozambique, were no longer recorded. Why?
We are not quite sure. It’s possible, however, that the skink species are still around – they just weren’t spotted because no one was watching. This is an unfortunately common problem. While this is an exceptional area for biodiversity – with a variety of habitats ranging from tropical savannas to high mountain ranges and coastal mangroves – northern Mozambique is severely under-sampled, even relative to the African standards. There just isn’t a lot of data on the species in the region.
Part of this is because some places are more accessible than others for various reasons. Parts of the country have been historically inaccessible due to the civil war, and other areas are now inaccessible due to an ongoing insurgency. Beyond accessibility issues, most field surveys are conducted by international teams, which tend to be more time-bound and require more resources to complete the work.
Yet, these skinks are believed to be found in the sandy soils of easily accessible beaches, in areas much more populated today than 100 years ago. Sites like this are a great place to organize a hunt for long extinct species.
Our “Extinct or Shy” project sheds light on the problem of data deficient species in poorly sampled localities. The project asks if species that have not been seen for many decades are in fact extinct, or just ‘shy’. Ambitious students at a university near the small town where the two burrowing skinks were found are leading the hunt for the answers.
The widespread lack of sampling in Africa
As we have pointed out in previous research, data on the distribution of species – or lack thereof – can have a major impact on how key biodiversity areas and protected areas in a country are designated. Although studies have shown that species for which insufficient data are generally found in threatened categories, they are still not taken into account when proposing key biodiversity areas, due to the uncertainty of their availability. status.
However, once found or ‘rediscovered’, well-documented cases of rare species can trigger key biodiversity area status, spearhead conservation efforts and potentially protect against extinctions.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists 3,381 African species as “data insufficient”; 283 of them can occur in Mozambique. These are the species that we know, or suspect, to occur in some localities, but which lack sufficient data to be assessed against the rigorous IUCN assessment criteria. Missing information may consist of specific locations, species ecology or population trends, for example. A specimen of Scolecoseps boulengeri at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University / licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
This is why our “Extinct or Shy?” »Team is hard at work locating the elusive skinks. Four students from the University of Lúrio – Abdulrabe Jamal, Ali Puruleia, Iassine Amade and Wilson Monia – work alongside collaborators Cristóvão Nanvonamuquitxo and Yasalde Massigue. They check the traps daily for an entire year, take tissue samples, and keep vouchers (preserved specimens) for natural history collections. The project will continue until April 2022.
In the process, they don’t just collect the data needed to reassess the skinks’ conservation status; they also gain in-depth knowledge of other reptiles and amphibians present in the region.
There are two main scenarios for each species in this project. If the species is found, its habitat could be protected through the implementation of key biodiversity area status or conservation initiatives. If we cannot find the species, it may already be extinct or exist in such small numbers that it could become extinct soon without proper intervention.
If these skinks reappear, this time it will be Mozambican researchers who will find them and co-write the article describing the discovery. This is important because they will describe the biodiversity of their own country and strengthen locally owned taxonomic expertise. It is also extremely practical.
Local universities can lead the way
Mozambique has 11 accredited universities spread across the country. Several of them have multiple campuses offering programs related to the natural sciences. These institutions could lead initiatives to provide basic information on poorly known species. That is why we have joined forces with our colleagues from the University of Lúrio on this project.
Many species for which there are insufficient data are not easy to find and will therefore require extensive field experiments to collect information. This could be arranged between supervisors and students of local universities by equipping them to carry out field studies in adjacent areas, with the support of international experts if needed. From left to right, Wilson Monia, Abdulrabe Jamal and Ali Puruleia. Below is the local collaborator and coordinator Cristóvão Nanvonamuquitxo. Provided
Problems remain with this system. Mozambique even lacks simple field guides for large groups, including mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles. Field guides for East and Southern Africa consistently exclude poorly documented northern parts of the country, where taxonomic expertise is rarely held by Mozambican nationals.
Inclusive research
For this reason, technology plays a key role in “Extinct or Shy”. Although one of us, Harith, is from Mozambique, he now relies on a regular connection, usually via WhatsApp, with the students in the field. From Sweden, where we are both based at the World Biodiversity Center in Gothenburg, we can identify specimens in real time and also provide general advice on the project.
Read more: Following science: a way to involve more people in knowledge production
Once the sampling is complete, the whole team will come together to analyze the data and write our conclusions together. We hope that eventually, students will use both their field skills and their experience of the scientific process to conduct their own research and document Mozambique’s wonderful biodiversity.
Harith Omar Morgadinho Farooq receives funding from the Rufford Foundation (29825-1).
Allison Perrigo receives funding for this Kungl project. Vetenskaps- och Vitterhets-Samhället (KVVS).
By Harith Omar Morgadinho Farooq, Post-doc, University of Gothenburg And
Allison Perrigo, Director of the Göteborg Global Biodiversity Center, University of Gothenburg
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