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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
Solomon Island skink, prehensile-tailed skink, monkey-tailed
skink |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Reptilia |
| ORDER: |
Squamata |
| FAMILY: |
Scincidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Corucia zebrata (zebra-like) |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
Largest
of all skinks with an olive green background with
darker stripes vertically on the back, has a grasping
tail |
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| SIZE: |
Total
length of 75 cm (30 in.), one-half of which is tail |
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| WEIGHT: |
Approximately
600 grams (21.4 oz.) |
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| DIET: |
Primarily
folivorous, eating the leaves of many varieties
of plants |
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| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
2 years or more |
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| LIFE
SPAN: |
May
exceed 15 years |
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| HABITAT: |
Primary
and secondary tropical forests |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
No
data |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
No
data |
| CITES |
Appendix II |
| USFWS |
No
data |
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| 1. |
One
of only a few species of skinks that is known to
live an arboreal existence, climbing slowly from
branch to branch. Solomon Island skinks are also
completely herbivorous. |
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| 2. |
It is a member of the giant skink family and is
only known species of skink with a prehensile, or
grasping, tail. |
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| 3. |
Gives birth to only one or two extremely large offspring,
which may be up to one-half the size of the mother. |
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| 4. |
These
lizards show a degree of parental care not observed
in other lizards; the parents will actually protect
the young as well as the territory. |
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| 5. |
In
defense, the skink is able to make a sharp hissing
noise and can deliver a savage bite. |
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| 6. |
These
skinks are one of the few lizards not able to cast
off their tail in defense and later regenerate a
new one. |
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As with many tropical forest species, the extensive
loss of forests is severely affecting Solomon Islands
skinks. These skinks rely entirely upon the trees
for food and shelter. Their coloring is an adaptation
that camouflages them in the dense canopies of these
forests to protect them against predation. Because
of their low reproductive rates, this species is
at risk due to the pet trade and losses caused by
predation by introduced species. |
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|
|
Mattison, Chris. Lizards of the World. New
York: Facts on File Publications, Inc., 1989. |
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Rogner, Manfred. Lizards. Vol. 2. Malabar,
Florida: Krieger Publishing Co., 1994. |
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Wynne, Richard H. Lizards in Captivity.
New Jersey: T.F.H. Publications, Inc., 1981.
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