Biology:Falla's skink

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Short description: Species of lizard

Falla's skink
Falla's Skink 11.jpg
Specimen from Auckland War Memorial Museum
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Oligosoma
Species:
O. fallai
Binomial name
Oligosoma fallai
(McCann, 1955)
Oligosoma fallai distribution.png
Synonyms[1]
  • Leiolopisma fallai
    McCann, 1955
  • Lygosomella fallai
    — Wells & Wellington, 1985
  • Oligosoma fallai
    — Patterson & Daugherty, 1995

Falla's skink (Oligosoma fallai), also known commonly as the Three Kings skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is native to New Zealand.

Etymology

The specific name, fallai, is in honor of New Zealander ornithologist Robert Falla.[2]

Geographic range

O. fallai is endemic to the Three Kings Islands off the coast of New Zealand. It is found nowhere else in the world.[3][1]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of Falla’s skink are forest and shrubland.[3]

Diet

O. fallai is omnivorous. It preys upon small invertebrates, and also eats carrion and fruits, including the fruit of the tītoki tree (Alectryon excelsus), the seeds of which it helps to disperse.[3]

Reproduction

O. fallai is ovoviviparous.[1] Young are born in January and February, and mean litter size is 4.5.[3]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Species Oligosoma fallai at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  2. 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. (Oligosoma fallai, p. 88).
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named iucn status 16 November 2021

Further reading

  • McCann C (1955). "The lizards of New Zealand. Gekkonidae and Scincidae". Dominion Museum Bulletin (17): 1–127. (Leiolopisma fallai, new species, pp. 76–77).
  • Patterson GB, Daugherty CH (1995). "Reinstatement of the genus Oligosoma (Reptilia: Lacertilia: Scincidae)". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 25 (3): 327–331. (Oligosoma fallai, new combination).
  • van Winkel D, Baling M, Hitchmough R (2020). Reptiles and Amphibians of New Zealand: A Field Guide. Princeton Field Guides. London, Oxford, New York, New Delhi, Sydney: Bloomsbury Wildlife. 368 pp. ISBN:978-0691199504.

Wikidata ☰ Q615117 entry