A reclusive skink lizard has been pictured alive for the first ever time by an amateur wildlife photographer.

The rare reptile looks more like a snake, but on closer inspection it actually has four tiny legs that make it a type of lizard. It also has a notched tongue rather than the forked tongue of a snake.

Sjoerd van Berge Henegouwen, 48, was visiting the Masai Mara in Kenya when a ranger pointed out what he thought was a snake by the side of the road.

Rare: A reclusive skink lizard has been pictured alive for the first ever time by an amateur wildlife photographer

The Dutch photographer took several pictures of the 20ins long serpent before it slithered off into long grass.

When he got home Sjoerd did some research online and found a description of a Western Serpentiform skink which matched what he had seen, but couldn't find a single picture of one.

He uploaded his a photography Facebook page and was inundated with inquiries from excited herpetologists around the world.

One of them, German-based Dr Phillip Wagner said it is the first photo of a living Western Serpentiform skink he had come across and has asked Sjoerd for permission to publish it in reptile books.

Reclusive: The rare reptile looks more like a snake, but on closer inspection it actually has four tiny legs that make it a type of lizard

The Western Serpentiform skink, found in east Africa in countries like Kenya, Zambia and Tanzania, has a notched tongue rather than the forked tongue of a snake

Dr Wagner, of the Lindenhof Conservation Centre in Bavaria, said it is impossible to know the status of the skink as they are hardly ever seen because their habitat is remote grassland.

He said: 'These are the first photographs of a living specimen Western Serpentiform skink. The only other pictures available show dead ones.

'We don't know how rare the species is because it is very hard to find.

'I have found two in my lifetime; one was a road kill and the other was living but I didn't have a camera on me.

'This variety of skink has four very small legs but they are more snake like in appearance and movement. Their limbs are almost of no use to them.

'This is a very important find. The only museum exhibits of them are dead ones and these photographs are very details and show their true colour and the way they move.

Skinks are harmless to humans and live off a diet of insects and spiders

'It gives herpetologists like me who have been studying them for years a much better description of them.'

The Western Serpentiform skink is found in east Africa in countries like Kenya, Zambia and Tanzania. They are harmless to humans and live off a diet of insects and spiders.

Sjoerd, a criminal defence lawyer, said: 'I was in the Masai Mara to capture the big migration of the wildebeest herds and there were some rangers there to make sure people didn't interfere with the herds.

'Then the warden's car parked up and he was looking at the ground. I got out to see what it was and he pointed at what he thought was a snake.

'He knows all the snakes in the area and he was worried this might be poisonous one because he didn't know what it was.

'I realised it wasn't a snake when I saw the little feet. I took some pictures of it so I could try to find out what it was.

'I think it moved out of the grassland because the wildebeest were going through that area.

'When I got home I looked it up and all I could find was a picture of a dead specimen.

'I posted my photos on Facebook and a few weeks ago a professor contacted me and told me that this was probably the only photos of this species alive.