Lizard specimen being returned to Jamaica hailed as ‘transformational’
A LIZARD specimen on its way back to its Jamaican homeland from a Scottish university collection 170 years after it was taken has been described as “transformational” by researchers.
The Jamaican giant galliwasp, a species now presumed extinct, is thought to have been collected in the 1850s and became part of the University of Glasgow collections in 1888.
A joint team from the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Institute of Jamaica (IOJ) has travelled to Glasgow to retrieve the specimen, in what is said to be the first repatriation of a natural history specimen in the Caribbean.
Dr Shani Roper, curator of the University of the West Indies, said her team was “absolutely excited” about the return.
She said: “The giant galliwasp that’s being returned is presumed extinct, so there are just no specimens in the Caribbean, and Jamaica specifically.
“This specific lizard is considered the largest of this species, so we’re talking about a specimen that’s been extinct approximately since the 1840s or 1850s.
“The specimen is an adult galliwasp, so it’s actually potentially older than 170 years, and one of the things that we were talking about, because we’re so absolutely excited about this, is we actually don’t know the lifespan of an adult galliwasp because none of our scientists have ever actually handled or seen one unless they have come to the United Kingdom.
“The repatriation of this specimen is transformational to how we conduct research, how we develop knowledge, and also just in terms of providing scholars with access to what the specimen looks like.”
The team from UWI and IOJ will return to Jamaica with the lizard specimen on April 24.
An official handover ceremony will be held and the lizard will be deposited in the Natural History Museum of Jamaica on permanent loan in the national flora and fauna collection to ensure it is accessible to all Jamaicans.