Falla's skink

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.

Falla's skink
Specimen from Auckland War Memorial Museum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Oligosoma
Species:
O. fallai
Binomial name
Oligosoma fallai
(McCann, 1955)
Synonyms[2]

Etymology

The specific name, fallai, is in honor of New Zealander ornithologist Robert Falla.[3]

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.[1][2]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of Falla’s skink are forest and shrubland.[1]

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.[1]

Reproduction

O. fallai is ovoviviparous.[2] Young are born in January and February, and mean litter size is 4.5.[1]

References
  1. Hitchmough, R.; Chapple, D.G. (2021). "Oligosoma fallai ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T15263A120191092. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T15263A120191092.en. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  2. Species Oligosoma fallai at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  3. 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).

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.
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