Need ID please

[RooOfBlue]

Hi all, just curious as to what this little guy is. I saw it about half way down the east coast of the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. I've searched carefully (twice!) through all of the photos and range maps in the 2 field guides I have (the Swanson book and the Wilson/Swan book) and cannot for the life of me ID this thing. Sorry, pics aren't the best but I can say that the skink had 4 digits on each foot and was very irridescent. There is just such a bewildering array of skinks in Oz, many more than I was accustomed to in the U.S.! Moloch, I've really enjoyed your trip write-ups and photography and know you're a fan of skinks, so I'm hoping you might ID this for me. Thanks in advance everyone!

Edit: sorry, forgot to add that total length is approx. 90 mms...

 

[ssssmithy]

white's skink maybe? egernia whitii

 

[ecosnake]

Lerista of some sort.....

 

[JasonL]

Hemiergis decresiensis?

 

[RooOfBlue]

Hemiergis decresiensis?

ssssmithy, I don't think it's a White's. It's certainly similar to some of the Lerista but Hemiergis d. was my best guess too... Keep 'em coming folks, and thanks again!

Edit again: just rechecked Wilson and Swan and they say that Hemiergis Decresiensis has only 3 digits per footsie... back to the drawing board.

 

[JasonL]

H millewae or initialis have 5

 

[JasonL]

Looks a bit like the latter

 

[RooOfBlue]

It definitely does look like initialis - only problem is that the skink I saw has only 4 fingers and toes. It would also be somewhat of a range extension according to the Wilson/Swan map, but that wouldn't be surprising since there is so much research to be done yet on Oz reptiles.

 

[JasonL]

Just a little off track..check out H. peronii, it can have 3 or 4 fingers and toes?? depending on the sub species, how odd. Maybe it's Hemiergis rooofblueii

 

[RooOfBlue]

Yep, I saw that too (H. peronii) - definitely found in that area at least. If you have the Wilson/Swan book, check out G. darwiniensis pic at bottom of page 225 - now that WOULD be a range extension, haha, but that's the closest resemblance in the book. Hellifiknow... BTW, thanks heaps for your help Jason! H. rooofblueii, I like that lol.

 

[JasonL]

Yeah, It did grab me eye as I flicked through.. I'd be pretty sure you animal is a Hermiergis of some type though...

 

[moloch05]

Hello RooOfBlue,

I agree with Jason that it looks like a Hemiergis, probably H. decresiensis continentis. The field guide indicates that this race often has well developed paravertebral lines. The range maps are not so clear but it seems that H. peronii may also be a possibility.

Here are a few examples of Hemiergis from Western Australia:

H. initialis:

H. peronii:

H. quadrilineata:

Aussie skinks are so diverse and very so much by locality.

Regards,
David

 

[RooOfBlue]

Was hoping you'd chime in David, thanks. The thing that confused me was the finger/toe count - Wilson/Swan say decresiensis has 3 digits. Perhaps it is peronii peronii, but it sure looks a lot more like decresiensis. At any rate, thanks to all of you who have helped to ID the mystery skink!

 

[moloch05]

... hmmm, I overlooked the obvious. As you stated, Wilson/Sway indicate that decresiensis has 3 digits and this is bolded. I looked on the net and a common name for the species is Three-toed Earless Skink. Your lizard must therefore be another species, possible H. peronii as you suggested or perhaps something different again (but I have no idea what). It might be worth sending the shots to one of the museums to see what their herpetologists think.


Regards,
David

 

[Adsell]

Hemiergis peronii. Quite common in that area.
Here's one i found.

Ads

 

[RooOfBlue]

Mystery solved! Thanks all...

 

[kwarl]

Lerista Dorsalis ?

could be L. Dorsalis given the location, toes etc.

regards, Kwarl

 

[eipper]

Adam Is on the money def H. peronii

 

[Thyla]

could be L. Dorsalis given the location, toes etc.

regards, Kwarl

L. Dorsalis has "2-4 black narrow stripes or rows of dashes". I can't seem to make out any black narrow stripes in the photo let alone 2-4 of them.

I think H. peronii sounds good (although very different colour variation to the one in the wilson and swan book.

All this peroni talk is making me thirsty

 

[RooOfBlue]

Wow, this got resurrected from the ashes. I'm quite confident that Adsell correctly identified it as peronii. Thanks again all!