Biology:Egernia kingii
| Egernia kingii | |
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| Albany, Western Australia | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Scincidae |
| Genus: | Egernia |
| Species: | E. kingii
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| Binomial name | |
| Egernia kingii (Gray, 1838)
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| Synonyms[2] | |
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Egernia kingii, known commonly as King's skink, is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Australia .
Geographic range
E. kingii is native to coastal regions of south-western Australia .[3] It is common on Rottnest Island and Penguin Island and some coastal areas with open forest and open heath.
Description
E. kingii is a large, heavy-bodied black skink that can reach a total length (including tail) of 55 centimetres (22 in)[3] with a mass of 220 grams (8 oz).
Diet
E. kingii is omnivorous and consumes mostly softer plant matter from the range of local vegetation, but supplements its diet with insects and birds' eggs.[4]
As prey
E. kingii is prey for many animals including tiger snakes (Notechis spp.).[5]
History
A traditional name for E. kingii is wandy, given by the Nyungar people of south-west Western Australia.[6] The first European to draw a King's skink was the artist and naturalist Ferdinand Bauer who made a detailed drawing of one during Flinders' expedition in 1801.[7]
Reproduction
Like many skinks, E. kingii is viviparous, and after a gestation period of 20 – 22 weeks,[4] gives birth to litters of 2 – 8 young that have a typical mass of 7 grams (0.25 oz). Juvenile mortality is high and growth to adult size is slow, so mature King's skinks can be quite long lived.
Etymology
The specific name, kingii, is in honor of Australian Phillip Parker King, who explored the coast of Australia while he was an officer in the Royal Navy.[8]
References
- ↑ "Egernia kingii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017. 2017. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T178540A101749086.en.
- ↑ "Egernia kingii ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Waratah Software Natural Images of Australia". 2008. http://www.waratahsoftware.com.au/wp_lizards_skinks.html. Retrieved 2008-05-03.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Arena, P. C.; Wooller, R. D. (2008). "CSIRO publishing - The reproduction and diet of Egernia kingii (Reptilia : Scincidae) on Penguin Island, Western Australia". Australian Journal of Zoology 51 (5): 495. doi:10.1071/zo02040.
- ↑ "Diet divergence, jaw size and scale counts in two neighbouring populations of tiger snakes (Notechis scutatus)". 2003. http://www.bio.usyd.edu.au/sites/Shinelab/staff/xavier/amphreptil2004.pdf. Retrieved 2003-05-03.[yes|permanent dead link|dead link}}]
- ↑ "Vocabulary collected by Isaac Scott Nind 1826-1829 at King George's Sound". 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-07-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20080720201201/http://www.omninet.net.au/~bhoward/Nind.html. Retrieved 2008-05-03.
- ↑ "ABC - The Nauralists - Ferdinand Bauer". 2008. http://www.abc.net.au/navigators/naturalists/bauer.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-03.
- ↑ 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. (Egernia kingii, p. 141).
Further reading
- Boulenger GA (1887). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume III. ... Scincidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 575 pp. + Plates I-XL. (Egernia kingii, pp. 138–139).
- Glauert L (1960). "Herpetological miscellanea. XII. The family Scincidae in Western Australia. Part 1. The genera Tiliqua, Trachysaurus and Egernia ". Western Australian Naturalist 7 (3): 67-77.
- Gray JE (1838). "Catalogue of the Slender-tongued Saurians, with Descriptions of many new Genera and Species". Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., First Series 2: 287-293. (Tiliqua kingii, new species, p. 290).
External links
Wikidata ☰ Q3008779 entry
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