Whitaker's skink

Whitaker's skink (Oligosoma whitakeri)[3] is a threatened[4] species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is found only in New Zealand.

Whitaker's skink
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Oligosoma
Species:
O. whitakeri
Binomial name
Oligosoma whitakeri
(Hardy, 1977)
Synonyms[2]
  • Cyclodina whitakeri
    Hardy, 1977
  • Oligosoma whitakeri
    — Chapple et al., 2009

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.[5][6]

Habitat and behaviour

Whitaker's skink lives in coastal forest and scrub. During the day the skinks retreat to warm, moist places such as seabird burrows and deep boulder banks, and emerge 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.[7] 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 2012 the Department of Conservation (DOC) classified Whitaker's skink as Nationally Endangered under the New Zealand Threat Classification System.[8]

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References
  1. Lettink, M., Hitchmough, R., van Winkel, D. & Chapple, D. 2019. Oligosoma waimatense. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T15265A120191303. Downloaded on 19 July 2019.
  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. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2009.03.021. PMID 19345273.
  4. Australasian Reptile & Amphibian Specialist Group (1996). "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Oligosoma whitakeri (Whitaker's Skink)". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996. Retrieved 2014-12-27.
  5. Gill, Brian; Whitaker, Anthony (1996). New Zealand Frogs & Reptiles. Auckland, New Zealand: D. Bateman. ISBN 978-1-86953-264-2.
  6. 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).
  7. Wilson, Kerry-Jayne. "Lizards - Conservation". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 2014-12-27.
  8. Hitchmough, Rod; Anderson, Peter; Barr, Ben; Monks, Jo; Lettink, Marieke; Reardon, James; Tocher, Mandy; Whitaker, Tony. "Conservation status of New Zealand reptiles, 2012" (PDF). Department of Conservation. The Government of New Zealand. Retrieved 18 July 2015.

Further reading
  • Hardy GS (1977). "The New Zealand Scincidae (Reptilia: Lacertilia); a taxonomic and zoogeographic study". New Zealand J. Zool. 4: 221–325. (Cyclodina whitakeri, new species, pp. 269–270).


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