Whitaker's skink

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Whitaker's skink
Whitaker's Skink live held in hand.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Oligosoma
Species:
O. whitakeri
Binomial name
Oligosoma whitakeri
(Hardy, 1977)
Oligosoma whitakeri - map.svg
Distribution of Whitaker's skink on a map of the North Island
  Known native range
Synonyms [2]
  • Cyclodina whitakeri
    Hardy, 1977
  • Oligosoma whitakeri
    Chapple et al., 2009

Whitaker's skink (Oligosoma whitakeri), [3] also known commonly as Whitaker's New Zealand skink, [1] [2] is an endangered [1] species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is found only in New Zealand.

Contents

Etymology

The specific epithet, whitakeri, is in honour of Anthony Whitaker, a New Zealand herpetologist who studied New Zealand lizards for more than 30 years. [4] [5]

Habitat and behaviour

Whitaker's skink lives in coastal forest and scrub. During the day it retreats to warm, moist places such as seabird burrows and deep boulder banks, and emerges on warm humid nights to forage.

Geographic range

O. whitakeri is found on two small, predator-free islands off the Coromandel Peninsula – Middle Island in the Mercury Islands group, and Castle Island. There is also a mainland population in a small rocky area at the base of coastal hills at Pukerua Bay, near Wellington. Fossil bones found in the Waikato region suggest that these skinks were once more widely distributed. [6] The New Zealand Department of Conservation and the Friends of Mana Island are running a five-year project to catch and breed enough animals from the vulnerable Pukerua Bay colony to establish a sustainable population on nearby predator-free Mana Island.

Conservation status

As of August 2021 the Department of Conservation (DOC) classified Whitaker's skink as Nationally Endangered under the New Zealand Threat Classification System. [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Oligosoma</i> Genus of lizards

Oligosoma is a genus of small to medium-sized skinks found only in New Zealand, Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island. Oligosoma had previously been found to belong to the Eugongylus group of genera in the subfamily Lygosominae; the Australian genus Bassiana appears to be fairly closely related.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otago skink</span> Species of lizard

The Otago skink is a rare, endangered species of large skink in the family Scincidae, found in the rocky canyons and grassy patches of Central Otago, New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copper skink</span> Species of lizard

The copper skink is a skink of the family Scincidae that is endemic to the North Island of New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robust skink</span> Species of reptile

Oligosoma alani,, also known as the robust skink is the largest endemic skink to New Zealand. The robust skink is in the family Scincidae and found in the protected nature reserves of the Mercury Islands in the North Island of New Zealand. The robust skink has an at risk - recovering conservation status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macgregor's skink</span> Species of lizard

McGregor's skink is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marbled skink</span> Species of lizard

The marbled skink is a species of skink in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chevron skink</span> Species of lizard

The chevron skink is a large species of skink that is endemic to New Zealand. Previously found across Northland and the northern Auckland Region, it is now found only on the Great Barrier and Little Barrier islands in the Hauraki Gulf. A cryptic forest dweller, it can hide underwater. The chevron skink is the longest species of skink in New Zealand, reaching lengths of up to 340 mm (13 in). It is under threat from introduced rats.

<i>Oligosoma infrapunctatum</i> Species of lizard

Oligosoma infrapunctatum, the speckled skink, is a species of skink in the family Scincidae. It is endemic to New Zealand.

<i>Oligosoma taumakae</i> Species of lizard

Oligosoma taumakae, the Open Bay Island(s) skink, or Taumaka skink, is a species of skink. It was described from the Open Bay Islands, off the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hardy's skink</span> Species of lizard

Hardy's skink is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to the Poor Knights Islands of New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slight skink</span> Species of lizard

The slight skink is a skink of the family Scincidae, endemic to the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. The precise distribution is unknown; currently it is only known from localities in the Te Paki region of Northland. It closely resembles the copper skink, Oligosoma aeneum, and was considered to be a member of this species until recently when it was described as a new species using morphological, allozyme and DNA methods. O. levidensum is difficult to distinguish morphologically from O. aeneum, which is probably why it had not been recognised until recently. The main distinguishing feature is the slighter overall body form of O. levidensum compared to O. aeneum. The limbs of O. levidensum are reduced compared to O. aeneum and O. hardyi, the other members of the O. aeneum complex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ornate skink</span> Species of lizard

The ornate skink is a rare species of skink endemic to New Zealand. Once widespread across the North Island, habitat destruction and predation by introduced species has now reduced their range to scattered localities throughout the North Island and offshore islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barrier skink</span> Species of lizard

The Barrier skink is a species of medium-sized skink, a lizard in the subfamily Eugongylinae of the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to New Zealand, where it lives in the alpine habitat of the Darran and Takitimu Mountains of Fiordland. It is one of only two species of New Zealand skinks that live exclusively in the alpine zone, the other being the "Sinbad skink", Oligosoma pikitanga, a closely related species of similar appearance which is found in the same part of the South Island. The Barrier skink was first collected in the 1960s but was overlooked until rediscovery by a pair of mountain climbers in 2005; the species was scientifically described in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mokohinau skink</span> Species of lizard

The Mokohinau skink, also known commonly as Towns' skink and the Hauraki skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to New Zealand.

<i>Oligosoma roimata</i> Species of lizard

The Aorangi skink is a species of lizards in the skink family. The species is native to New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Te Kakahu skink</span> Species of lizard

The Te Kakahu skink is a critically endangered species of skink native to New Zealand. When discovered, the entire species was inhabiting a single patch of clifftop vegetation on Chalky Island in Fiordland National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burgan skink</span> Species of lizard

The Burgan skink is a nationally endangered species of skink native to New Zealand. It was described from a specimen found near the Burgan Stream, in the Rock and Pillar Range, Central Otago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cryptic skink</span> Species of lizard

The cryptic skink is a nationally vulnerable species of skink native to New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canterbury spotted skink</span> Species of lizard

Oligosoma lineoocellatum, commonly known as the Canterbury spotted skink, is one of a species complex of several related spotted skink species from New Zealand.

<i>Oligosoma salmo</i> Species of lizard

The Chesterfield or Kapitia skink is a species of skink found in New Zealand. Only discovered in 1994 and for years not recognised as a distinct species, it is endemic to a narrow 1 km strip of coastal vegetation on the West Coast of New Zealand, 15 km north of Hokitika. There are fewer than 200 individuals remaining in the wild. Oligosoma salmo is the only New Zealand skink with a prehensile tail, suggesting it was once arboreal and inhabited coastal forest, which was subsequently cleared for dairy farming. Following the partial destruction of its remaining habitat in 2018 by a cyclone, a small captive breeding population was established at Auckland Zoo.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hitchmough, R.; van Winkel, D.; Lettink, M.; Chapple, D. (2019). "Oligosoma whitakeri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2019: e.T6013A120190515. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T6013A120190515.en . Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 Uetz P, Freed P, Hošek J (eds.). "Oligosoma whitakeri ". The Reptile Database . Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  3. Chapple, David G.; Ritchie, Peter A.; Daugherty, Charles H. (2009). "Origin, diversification, and systematics of the New Zealand skink fauna (Reptilia: Scincidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 52 (2): 470–487. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2009.03.021. PMID   19345273.
  4. Gill, Brian; Whitaker, Anthony (1996). New Zealand Frogs & Reptiles. Auckland, New Zealand: D. Bateman. ISBN   978-1-86953-264-2.
  5. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN   978-1-4214-0135-5. (Cyclodina whitakeri, p. 284).
  6. Wilson, Kerry-Jayne. "Lizards - Conservation". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 2014-12-27.
  7. Rod Hitchmough; Ben Barr; Carey Knox; et al. (2021). Conservation status of New Zealand reptiles, 2021 (PDF). Vol. 35. pp. 1–23. ISBN   978-1-9911529-2-3. ISSN   2324-1713. Wikidata   Q108747299. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2022.{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)

Further reading