stuffed Phelsuma edwardnewtoni in the Port Louis National History Museum

Thorough searches in the 1960s and 1970s on all offshore islands/islets have failed to yield any signs of this lizard.

Lets hope that they did not do their job to well unfortunately this seems not the case. All that remains of this species today are six preserved specimens, three of which are in the British Museum, the three others in the Paris Museum (like at the picture).

Past Distribution: Occurred on the Rodriques and offshore islets. Probably extinct, as a result of the destruction of the native forest and introducing rats and cats, on the main Island of Rodriques by the 1870s. Last collected on one of the small, offshore islets in 1917. Rats are now established on all of the offshore islands.

Brief Description: This was a thick bodied robust diurnal lizard which was bright green,with a profusion of bright blue spots on the dorsal surface. The chin was deep yellow and the underside of the tail light yellow. Reached a know length of 7.5-9 inches (19,1-22,9 cm), although one historical account places the maximum length at up to 10.6 inches (27 cm). (If the other descriptions measured the preserved specimens they measured a shrunken speciemen which happens when you preserve tissue). It was noted that this species, like most other Phelsuma, was capable of rapid colour changes. This lizard was documented as not having a fear of humans and "was very tame, coming to eat fruits in one's hand." They fed on insects, pollen and fruit.

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