TIMOR-LESTE REPTILE & AMPHIBIAN SURVEY
PHASE IV: IN THE MOUNTAINS cont.

The mountains above Same

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The next location was original forest above coffee-forest and the village of Mirbuti, at an altitude of just over 1,000m. The road was interesting to say the least; it required concentration and four-wheel drive, but we were eventually halted when a fallen tree blocked our path. Dropping back to a flat area where we could park the vehicles, we started searching under rocks and decaying vegetation. We captured two night skinks (Eremiascincus sp.) and a Wedge skink (Sphenomorphus sp.), the latter with a stunning throat coloration and seemingly a different species from those we have collected in other parts of Timor. We also missed another wedge skink on a tree which climbed out of reach.

Night skink Eremiascincus. sp.	Wedge skink Sphenomorphus sp.

When the rain turned especially heavy we made our way back up the slope to the vehicles where we compared the largest leeches, and most bloody leech bites, before heading back the Ailelehun Guest House in Same.