Endemic Reptiles

The endemic reptilian fauna consisted of land tortoises, lizards and small  boas.

Lizards

Several species of lizards and geckos originating from either Madagascar or  the African mainland landed on the shores of Mauritius in a distant past,  evolved there and eventually become endemic to the island. Rats and mongooses  have driven to extinction a number of species and presently certain endemic  lizards are very rare on the mainland and can be seen in some numbers only on  Round Island.

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Snakes

The main land used to harbour two endemic boas, they are now to be found only on Round Island. They are

the keel scaled Round Island boa - Casarea dussumieri

and the 

Bolyeria multicarinata.

This boa has burrowing habits and is of a brown colour. It has been seen only  on few occasions this century.

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Tortoises

There were two species of endemic land tortoises, the Geochelone ineptia and  the Geochelone indicus, both now extinct. The tortoises were abundant during the  Dutch occupation of the island but soon their numbers suffered a massive  reduction due to human predation and the predation of freshly laid eggs by feral  pigs. By the end of the seventeenth century both species had become extinct. It  appears that these land tortoises fed to a large degree on the ripe fruits of  the Blue Latan, an endemic palm tree.

During Dutch times, two species of marine tortoises (Chelonia midas, Green  turtle and Erytmochelys imbricata, Caret) came ashore in Mauritius to lay eggs.  Once again feral pigs took their toll and very qucikly these two species became  locally extinct. But mercifully, the same marine tortoises can still be seen to  lay eggs on the island dependency of St Brandon where the species are now  protected.

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Exotic Reptiles

The introduced reptilian fauna include a few Elephantine tortoises form  Aldabra, house lizards like Geckos from Madagascar (Hemidactylus mabouia) or  from India (Gehyeria mutilata), (Hemiphyllodactylus typus).

Outdoor lizards include the Ebenavia inunguis from Madagascar and the  Chameleon Calotes versicolor from Java.

Two types of snakes were accidentally introduced from India, the Blind Indian  Snake (Typhlina bramina) and the Wolf Snake (Lycodon aulicum), locally known as  Couleuvre. Both are quite harmless.

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stuffed Phelsuma edwardnewtoni in the Port Louis National History Museum

	Links
	Sedgwick County Zoo
	Endangered Species Recovery Council
	The Mauritius Wildlife Foundation
	UN System-Wide Earthwatch Web Site
	Wildlife Preservation Trust Canada
	School of Biological Sciences University of Bristol
	Natural Environment Research Council
	Amphibian Reptile & Insect Association
	Virtual Museum of Natural History : Phelsuma guentheri
	Day Geckos : Phelsuma guntheri