The southern whiptailed skink (''Tropidoscincus variabilis'') is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
skink
Skinks are a type of lizard belonging to the family (biology), family Scincidae, a family in the Taxonomic rank, infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one o ...
found in
New Caledonia
New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
.
[ Tropidoscincus variabilis is a medium-sized, long-limbed and long-tailed skink with strong ]ontogenetic
Ontogeny (also ontogenesis) is the origination and development of an organism (both physical and psychological, e.g., moral development), usually from the time of fertilization of the egg to adult. The term can also be used to refer to the stu ...
change in coloration. They are more brightly colored as juveniles. They live primarily in forest
A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
s and heath
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...
lands. Mature males and females are roughly the same size, but females have longer bodies, shorter heads and limbs, and a less brightly orange venter. Females lay 2–4 eggs in summer, and young hatch in late summer. More than one year of growth is required to attain maturity. They eat a large variety of invertebrates, particularly spiders and crickets. Juveniles eat more spiders, bugs and isopods
Isopoda is an Order (biology), order of crustaceans. Members of this group are called isopods and include both Aquatic animal, aquatic species and Terrestrial animal, terrestrial species such as woodlice. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons ...
than adults.[Sadlier, R., Bauer, A., Jourdan, H., & Shea, G. (2009). Natural history of the New Caledonian whiptailed skink Tropidoscincus variabilis (Bavay, 1869) (Squamata: Scincidae), ''Amphibia-Reptilia'', ''30''(2), 207–220. https://brill.com/view/journals/amre/30/2/article-p207_4.xml?lang=en]
References
Tropidoscincus
Reptiles described in 1869
Skinks of New Caledonia
Endemic fauna of New Caledonia
Taxa named by Arthur René Jean Baptiste Bavay
{{Skink-stub