Diet of collection specimens of the extinct species Chioninia coctei

In this study, we take advantage of next-generation sequencing (NGS) metabarcoding to shed light on the enigmatic ecology of this extinct species and to explore possible reasons that may have contributed to its extinction. Particularly, we aimed to learn more about the health status and diet of the last three known specimens of giant skink collected in 1901 on Branco Islet by the Princess Alice II expedition and which, according to our knowledge, have never been examined by scientists so far.