Swimming in sand: evidence of skink lizard locomotion in Pleistocene aeolianites of Maio Island, Cabo Verde Archipelago

Uchman, Alfred, Johnson, Markes E., Ávila, Gonçalo C., Ramalho, Ricardo S., Maetin-Gonzalez, Esther, Martins, Gustavo M., Hipoloto, Ana, Marques, Sandra, Madeira, Patrícia and Ávila, Sérgio P. 2026. Swimming in sand: evidence of skink lizard locomotion in Pleistocene aeolianites of Maio Island, Cabo Verde Archipelago. Comptes Rendus Palevol 25 (20) , pp. 375-389. 10.5852/cr-palevol2026v25a20

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Abstract

Well-sorted bioclastic calcarenites from the Pleistocene contribute to an aeolian sand sheet in the southwest of the island of Maio (Cape Verde archipelago), which contains a distinctive, large, horizontal, sinuous fossil trace attributed to the ichnogenus Cochlichnus Hitchcock, 1858. Due to its size and morphology, this track is described here as a new ichnospecies, Cochlichnus grandis isp. Nov. Morphometric parameters, sedimentary context and comparison with modern analogues indicate that the trace was most likely produced by a skink (Squamata) swimming in the sand, which was partially buried at the surface or completely in the subsurface. To date, the tracks produced by skinks swimming inside loose sands have not been documented in the fossil record, although they have been studied through neoichnological experiments. The preservation of C. grandis isp. nov. was favoured by relatively high substrate moisture in a coastal wind environment, as well as early carbonate cementation – conditions rarely found in dry silicoclastic dune systems. This narrow taphonomic window explains the extreme rarity of fossil tracks recording swimming behavior in sand, despite the wide distribution and long evolutionary history of skinks in arid and semi-arid regions.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Earth and Environmental Sciences Schools > Physical, Chemical & Environmental Sciences
Publisher:	Elsevier Masson
ISSN:	1631-0683
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	19 October 2026
Last Modified:	19 Oct 2026 17:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/190320

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