Fallen trees in the rainforest cause light gaps that are popular with the lizard crowd, as this skink is cheerfully demonstrating.

I believe this skink is M. nigropunctata based on the information I could find in a couple of books and on the web, but it could be the closely related M. bistriata instead. The Mamirauá guide book was no help, as its reptile list includes no skinks at all. If you are an Amazonian skink expert, please send me mail to confirm or deny this identification.

Here is an account of the four days we spent at Uakari Floating Lodge in the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve.