The Arnhem Crevice Skink, Bellatorias obiri, is a very elusive, large skink (growing to a total length of over 40 cm) which has been
infrequently recorded in the West Arnhem region in recent years. As The West Arnhem region is the only place where this lizard
occurs, this is of some concern. There have been quite a number of more general fauna surveys conducted over the past decade,
but as no conclusive evidence of this species' existence was forthcoming, I was employed with another fauna surveyor to attempt
to find these elusive critters. For six weeks we searched, getting scratched, bruised, bitten by ants, hot, smelly, exhausted and
slowly disillusioned as we returned to places where these animals had been seen historically and found no evidence that they still
existed. This photogrph is of the only specimen we did find, long dead on the dusty floor of a cave on a hillside in the south of
Kakadu. There is no clue as to the cause of death and even trying to establish how long it had been there was difficult. Was this
specimen poisoned by a cane toad? Did it starve during a long dry season? Was it the last specimen in existance? Is this
remarkable lizard ex-skinked?