Seychelles Amphibians & Reptiles

A Mahé caecilian (Hypogeophis brevis) sat on a blue gloved hand. It is dark in colour & about 5cm long with a very pointy head.

Akhila Kummanat holds a large Sharp-nosed caecilian (Hypogeophis rostratus). This requires both hands and a lot of concentration.

🇸🇨 Seychelles has 8 endemic caecilian species. Seven of them can all be found in Morne Seychellois National Park on Mahé island. These limbless amphibians are highly understudied due to their underground burrowing lifestyle. However, the difficulty makes finding one very rewarding!

Ellen Sharkey looks very excited while holding a Montane Mahé Caecilian (Hypogeophis montanus).

A close up of a Montane Mahé Caecilian (Hypogeophis montanus).

The most exciting find of my recent fieldwork: the Montane Mahé Caecilian. Only found on the highest peak in Seychelles, this Critically Endangered amphibian had not been observed since 2015.

📷: @simonmaddock.bsky.social

And we're in it! 🐸🐸🐸

Seychelles tree frog (Tachycnemis seychellensis)

And who can forget the amazing Seychelles tree #frog (Tachycnemis seychellensis). This is a female, and in this particular population the males are brown.

We also found two species of caecilian but I failed to get any pictures.

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Thomasset's Seychelles frog or Thomasset's frog (Sooglossus thomasseti)

Workshop team discussing amphibians in the field.

Thomasset's Seychelles frog (Sooglossus thomasseti) is the largest of the endemic Seychelles frog family Sooglossidae, and perhaps the rarest of them (or least frequently encountered at least). 🧪🐍🐸🔬

Gardiner's Seychelles frog (Sechellophryne gardineri)

Gardiner's Seychelles frog (Sechellophryne gardineri)

The IUCN Red List and Green Status workshops are going fantastically. Tonight we had a break from the computer and found several of the #amphibians that we have been assessing. Here is a beautiful Gardiner's Seychelles #frog (Sechellophryne gardineri), one of the smallest frogs in the World.

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Louise Hobin

Magdalena Cygan

We also had talks from the IUCN Red List (Louise Hobin) and Green Status of Species (Magdalena Cygan) authorities about their work. This is a precursor to the Red List and Green Status assessments coming up over the next four days.

Ellen Sharkey

Ellen Sharkey being interviewed for SBC

Ellen did a fantastic talk about her PhD topic looking at climate change in #caecilians.

The Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation were here, who will be doing a segment about the symposium, and Ellen and I gave an interview about the importance of getting people together for these events.

Delegates of the SEYCHELLES ENDEMIC AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES: CURRENT KNOWLEDGE AND NEXT STEPS FOR CONSERVATION

Jessica Constance

Markus Roesch

Today's "SEYCHELLES ENDEMIC AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES: CURRENT KNOWLEDGE AND NEXT STEPS FOR CONSERVATION" symposium was a great success, with many fascinating talks. There have been lots of updates since the last time we ran a Seychelles amphibian symposium in 2019.

09:30 – 10:00 Welcome refreshments 10:00 – 10:15 Introduction from IBC/UniSey - Gérard Rocamora, Jérôme Harlay 10:15 – 11:10 Current research status of amphibians and reptiles from UK IBC affiliates - Jim Labisko, Simon Maddock, Ellen Sharkey, David Gower 11:10 – 11:30 Refreshment break 11:30 – 11:45 EDGE Sooglossids (title TBC) - James Mougal (independant) 11:45 – 12:00 A scientific approach from the field observations to the conservation actions: explicit, transparent, replicable, verifiable and falsifiable - Bruno Senterre (independent consultant) 12:00 – 12:15 Fundraising, facilitating partnerships, collaborations, and investment for Seychelles EDGE amphibians - Rachel Bristol (independant) 12:15 – 12:30 Reptile diversity and bronze gecko research in Seychelles - Markus Roesch (Uni of Porto) 12:30 – 13:30 Lunch break 13:30 – 13:45 The Biodiversity Conservation Section - MACCE: Biodiversity Conservation (Kevin Moumou) 13:45 – 14:00 An overview of conservation work on herpetofauna in Vallee de Mai - Seychelles Islands Foundation (Jessica Constance) 13:30 – 14:45 Aldabra giant tortoise conservation, management, and ecological research in Seychelles - Indian Ocean Tortoise Alliance (Rich Baxter) 13:30 – 14:45 The population status of freshwater terrapins in the Story Resort wetland - Marine Conservation Society Seychelles (Chris Mason-Parker) 13:30 – 14:45 The work of Gaea Seychelles (title TBC) - Gaea Seychelles (Mersiah Rose) 14:45 – 15:05 Refreshment break 15:05 – 15:20 An introduction to the IUCN Red List - Louise Hobin (IUCN) 15:20 – 15:35 An introduction to the IUCN Green Status of Species - Magdalena Cygan (IUCN) 15:35 – 16:00 Closing remarks

QR code for symposium

There is a symposium happening on Monday 20th Jan, titled "SEYCHELLES ENDEMIC #AMPHIBIANS AND #REPTILES: CURRENT KNOWLEDGE AND NEXT STEPS FOR #CONSERVATION". We will be streaming the talks if you can't be here: Link tinyurl.com/Seychelleshe... or use QR code.

Nb. Schedule is Seychelles time.

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