Whitaker's skink

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.

Whitaker's skink
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
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.^[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]

References

1. 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. 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)

External links

• Holotype specimen of Oligosoma whitakeri held at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
• Critter of the Week: Mulligan, Jesse (8 February 2019). "Whittakers Skink". Afternoons. Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 31 August 2022.

Further reading

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