Critically Endangered
Madascincus arenicola
Madascincus arenicola
Madascincus arenicola is a skink in the family Scincidae, recorded as Critically Endangered and tied to Madagascar.
The skink
Skinks are smooth-scaled lizards, often with reduced limbs in burrowing forms. Most eat insects and other small invertebrates.
Range and habitat
M. Arenicola is found in the Ampombofofo and Forêt d'Orangea regions of Antsiranana Province, in northern Madagascar. The preferred habitats of M. Arenicola are forest and shrubland at altitudes of 25–28 m (82–92 ft). The species is endemic to Madagascar.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet
Most skinks forage in leaf litter or under cover. Burrowing species slip through sand or soil more than they climb.
In crisis
Madascincus arenicola is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Madascincus arenicola — often a short stub, Wikidata item Q3275428. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
