Bougainville's skink

Bougainville's skink
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Scincidae
Genus:	Lerista
Species:	L. bougainvillii
Binomial name
Lerista bougainvillii (Gray, 1839)
Synonyms[2]
Riopa Brougainvillii [sic] Gray, 1839 Lygosoma bougainvillii — A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1839 Rhodona bougainvillii — M.A. Smith, 1937 Nodorha bougainvillii — Mittleman, 1952 Lerista bougainvillii — Greer, 1967

Bougainville's skink (Lerista bougainvillii) is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae.[3] This species is also commonly called the south-eastern slider[2][4] and Bougainville's lerista.[4]

Etymology

The specific name, bougainvillii, and the common names, Bougainville's skink and Bougainville's lerista, are in honour of French naval officer Hyacinthe de Bougainville.[4]

Geographic range

L. bougainvillii is found in south-eastern Australia, including north-eastern Tasmania and many Bass Strait islands.[3]

Description

Bougainville's skink has very reduced limbs and moves in a snake-like manner.[3]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of L. bougainvillii are forest and shrubland.[1] However, it is seldom seen, as much of its life is spent beneath leaf-litter, loose sand, and thin stone slabs.[3][5]

Reproduction

The mode of reproduction of L. bougainvillii varies. Some populations are oviparous, but other populations are viviparous.[1][2]

References

1. Shea, G.; Cogger, H.; Clemann, N. (2018). "Lerista bougainvillii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T109475231A109475256. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T109475231A109475256.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
2. Species Lerista bougainvillii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
3. Cogger HG (1979). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. Sydney: Reed. 608 pp. ISBN 0-589-50108-9.
4. Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Lerista bougainvillii, p. 33).
5. Wildlife of Tasmania – Bougainville’s Skink.

Further reading

• Cogger HG (2014). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. xxx + 1,033 pp. ISBN 978-0643100350.
• Gray JE (1839). "Catalogue of the Slender-tongued Saurians, with Descriptions of many New Genera and Species". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, First Series 2: 331-337. ("Riopa Brougainvillii [sic]", new species, p. 332).
• Greer AE (1967). "A new generic arrangement for some Australian scincid lizards". Breviora (267): 1-19. (Lerista bougainvillii, new combination).
• Wilson S, Swan G (2013). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia, Fourth Edition. Sydney: New Holland Publishers. 522 pp. ISBN 978-1921517280.