Phelsuma (Green geckos)

Phelsuma are day-geckos spread all over the Western Indian Ocean, (with one exception; the Andaman Islands) originating from Madagascar. From the 62 species and subspecies actually known, 9 occur on the Seychelles, of witch 5 on the granite islands. The granite island phelsumas can be divided in 2 groups: the astriata-group and the sundbergi-group.

To the astriata-group belong;

• Phelsuma astriata astriata (Silhouette, Mahé, Alphonse and Fregate)

• Phelsuma astriata semicarinata (Praslin, Curieuse and Aride)

To the sundbergi-group belong;

• Phelsuma sundbergi sundbergi (Praslin, Denis, Desroches)

• Phelsuma sundbergi ladiguensis (La Digue and …)

• Phelsuma sundbergi longinsulae (Mahé, Silhouette, Bird, North and Fregate)

So on Silhouette occur two kinds of phelsumas. Phelsuma sundbergi longinsulae and Phelsuma astriata astriata. The same two we can find on Mahé and Fregate.  

Phelsuma astriata astriata  Endemic
A P.a.astriata juvenile visiting the laboratory from NPTS	One of the smaller species in the Phelsuma family, with  a total length of 13 cm. The habitat from these jewels are the lower coastal regions. The best place to observe these animals are the small coconut trees in the hotel. Especially in the morning when they sunbath on the unripe nuts, licking the nectar from the small flowers of these trees. They lay two eggs between the coconut tree leaves every 4 to 6 weeks. the incubation time is 2 to 3 months depending from the temperature. The difference with P. s. longinsulae is, that P. a. astriata has a bluish tail, especially the males, and has greener, less spotted legs.
Phelsuma sundbergi longinsulae Endemic
	These animals prefer rougher surfaces, so they are easier to find on the takamaka trees in front of the bungalows in the hotel. Their total length is 16 cm. The reproduction is the same as from P. astriata astriata, but the eggs are laid behind the loose bark of the takamaka trees, protected from the sun and the rain. A lot of eggs are lost, by sticking in the resin from the tree. (see picture bellow).
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Night geckos
Gehyra mutilata
	Probably the most common gecko on earth. At sundown they appear from their hiding places, and post around the lights, waiting for their dinner, which consist of insects attracted by the light.
Hemidactylus frenatus
Ailuronyx          Sloughing skin geckos
A genus only occurring on the granite islands of the Seychelles. They owe their English name to the fact that, if a predator catches them, they throw off their skin, and try to escape . They live on trees and banana bunches, but can also be found in houses. Their diet consists of insects and fruit.
Ailuronyx seychellensis   Bronze gecko Endemic
	The largest of the three species, reaching 25 cm,
Ailuronyx tachyscopaeus                                     Endemic
Stays smaller 20 cm
Ailuronyx trachygaster                                         Endemic
The smallest with maximum 15 cm.
Skinks
Mabuya seychellensis  Endemic
	This is a very common skink you can find all over the island.
Pamelaescincus gardineri Endemic
A smaller skink than Mabuya seychellensis, difficult to find, and living in the higher regions.
Snakes
Contrary to what the local people pretend there are no dangerous or venomous snakes on the Seychelles, thus not on Silhouette. The only snakes occurring on Silhouette are:
Lamprophis geometricus (Seychelles house snake)
	A very rare and difficult to find snake.
Lycognatophis seychellensis (Seychelles wolf snake) Endemic, before Scopelophis seychellensis.
Scopelophis seychellensis.             Scopelophis seychellensis.	This harmless snake can reach more than 1 meter. It is wide spread and can be found from the coast till high in the mountains. The colour varies from brown to black, and the ventral side is always white. Their diet is varied: young birds, lizards, frogs and insects, and the last 200 years mice and young rats.     Scopelophis seychellensis.
Chameleons
Only one specie of chameleon occurs on Silhouette and the rest of the Seychelles. Like the phelsumas they originate from Madagascar.
Calumma tigris  Endemic
A typical green female Calumma tigris  A 10 minutes old hatchling Calumma tigris  2 young males Calumma tigris	The tiger chameleon is endemic to the Seychelles and occurs only on the islands Mahe, Praslin and Silhouette, and not on the islands Niol and Misère like it is wrongly mentioned in some literature. Le Niol and La Misère are regions on Mahe where indeed the tiger chameleon can be found. It is a very rare and shy animal, on Silhouette only found higher than 200 meters. His colour varies from yellow over green to dark brown, mostly with black spots. On Silhouette C. tigris is greener than on the other islands. With his 16cm length, he belongs to the smaller chameleons.    A juvenile Calumma tigris
Terrapins or fresh water turtles.
An adult (up) and a 6 month old juvenile (under)  Pelusios subniger parietalis.	On the Seychelles occur 2 species of terrapins, both represented by endemic subspecies; Pelusios castanoides intergularis or yellow bellied mud turtle and the black mud turtle Pelusios subniger parietalis. About a third taxon is some uncertainty whether it concerns Pelusios seychellensis, an endemic specie, or a variant of Pelusios castanoides. Of these species Pelusios seychellensis seems to be extinct (at least as a pure bred form). Pelusios castanoides intergularis and Pelusios subniger parietalis live in marches on Mahe, Praslin, Silhouette, La Digue and Fregate. Many of these marshes are drained. A real catastrophy was the drainage of the marsh  at Anse Kerlan on Praslin to allow the development from the Lemuria golf course. None of the nature protection organisation were informed, so the populations of P. castanoides and P. subniger were reduced to respectively 180 and 150 or with 57 and 21%. Both are critically endangered. These two species have been the subject of a captive breeding project by Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles since 1997.
Giant Tortoises
Clio           Phoenix   Josphine         Stan            Adam           Chiron         Christopher  being fed                                                                   All Indian Ocean tortoises drink through their nose	In recent times the genus Dipsochelys inhabited most of the western Indian Ocean islands. Exploitation by humans led to the extinction of all wild populations by 1840, with the exception of the Aldabra group Dipsochelys dussumieri (previously Geochelone gigantea or Dipsochelys elephantina) In total there were 6 species of Dipsochelys, three inhabited the granite group of the Seychelles islands, one Aldabra and the two others Madagascar.