King's skink (''Egernia kingii'') is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
skink, a
lizard in the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Scincidae. The species is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to
Australia.
Etymology
The
specific name, ''kingii'', is in honor of Australian
Phillip Parker King
Rear Admiral Phillip Parker King, FRS, RN (13 December 1791 – 26 February 1856) was an early explorer of the Australian and Patagonian coasts.
Early life and education
King was born on Norfolk Island, to Philip Gidley King and Ann ...
, who explored the coast of Australia while he was an officer in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
.
Geographic range
King's skink is native to coastal regions of south-western
Australia.
It is common on
Rottnest Island
Rottnest Island ( nys, Wadjemup), often colloquially referred to as "Rotto", is a island off the coast of Western Australia, located west of Fremantle. A sandy, low-lying island formed on a base of aeolianite limestone, Rottnest is an A-class ...
and
Penguin Island and some coastal areas with open forest and open heath.
Description
King's skink is a large, heavy-bodied black skink that can reach a total length (including tail) of
with a mass of .
Diet
King's skink is
omnivorous
An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nut ...
and consumes mostly softer plant matter from the range of local vegetation, but supplements its diet with
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...
s and
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
s' eggs.
As prey
King's skink is prey for many animals including tiger snakes (''
Notechis'' spp.).
History
A traditional name for King's skink is ''wandy'', given by the
Nyungar
The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...
people of south-west Western Australia. The first European to draw a King's skink was the artist and naturalist
Ferdinand Bauer
Ferdinand Lucas Bauer (20 January 1760 – 17 March 1826) was an Austrian botanical illustrator who travelled on Matthew Flinders' expedition to Australia.
Biography Early life and career
Bauer was born in Feldsberg in 1760, the youngest son of ...
who made a detailed drawing of one during
Flinders
Flinders may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Flinders Peak, near the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula
Australia New South Wales
* Flinders County, New South Wales
* Shellharbour Junction railway station, Shellharbour
* Flinders, New South Wa ...
' expedition in 1801.
Reproduction
Like many skinks, King's skink is
viviparous
Among animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. This is opposed to oviparity which is a reproductive mode in which females lay developing eggs that complete their development and hatch externally from the m ...
, and after a
gestation
Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregna ...
period of 20–22 weeks,
gives birth to litters of 2–8 young that have a typical mass of . Juvenile mortality is high and growth to adult size is slow, so mature King's skinks can be quite long lived.
References
Further reading
*
Boulenger GA (1887). ''Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume III. ... Scincidæ ...'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 575 pp. + Plates I-XL. (''Egernia kingii'', pp. 138–139).
*
Glauert L (1960). "Herpetological miscellanea. XII. The family Scincidae in Western Australia. Part 1. The genera ''Tiliqua, Trachysaurus'' and ''Egernia'' ". ''Western Australian Naturalist'' 7 (3): 67-77.
*
Gray JE (1838). "Catalogue of the Slender-tongued Saurians, with Descriptions of many new Genera and Species". ''Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., First Series'' 2: 287-293. (''Tiliqua kingii'', new species, p. 290).
External links
Australian Faunal DirectoryMore photosDistribution map
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3008779
Egernia
Reptiles of Western Australia
Skinks of Australia
Endemic fauna of Australia
Reptiles described in 1838
Taxa named by John Edward Gray