Tag: Jamaica

gelbe gallwespenschleiche
Photo of the head of a Jamaican giant galliwasp in the Natural History Museum in London. The specimen of the lizard was probably collected in the 19th century. (© Simon J. Tonge, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Jamaican giant galliwasp

Last seen in 1851 The Jamaican giant galliwasp, endemic exclusively to the Caribbean island of Jamaica, belongs to the family of diploglossids (Diploglossidae)—lizards with small but well-developed legs. A report written around 1850 by the English naturalist Philip H. Gosse indicates that the Jamaican giant galliwasp was still commonly found

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Antiguan Racer
A photo of the Antigua racer (Alsophis antiguae), native to the Lesser Antilles island of Antigua, which was considered the rarest snake in the world in the 1990s. Like the Jamaican racer, it belongs to the colubrid family and the subfamily Dipsadinae. (© Wallamalloo69 at English Wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Jamaican racer

Rare or extinct? The English naturalist Philip Henry Gosse described the black racer or Jamaican racer in the mid-19th century as one of the most common snakes in Jamaica. It occurred both in the lowlands and in the mountains of the island. By the mid-20th century, the Jamaican racer had

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sloans uraniafalter / urania sloanus
Sloane's urania, drawn by William Swainson and published in 1829 in Zoological Illustrations (Volume 3). (© William Swainson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Sloane’s Urania

A day-flying moth Sloane’s urania, a strikingly beautiful moth with a wingspan of up to 7.6 centimeters, probably died out at the beginning of the 20th century because it could no longer find food plants for its caterpillars. What was special about Sloane’s urania was not only that, because of

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