Kishinoue's giant skink (''Plestiodon kishinouyei''), also known as the Japanese skink, is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae, endemic to the southern

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

of Japan. The species name is a tribute to Japanese fisheries biologist

Kamakichi Kishinouye was a Japanese fisheries biologist and cnidariologist and a professor of the Imperial University of Tokyo (Faculty of Agriculture) between 1908 and 1928. Kishinouye died in Chengtu of a sudden illness while on a collecting expedition to China. ...

(岸上鎌吉, 1867–1929).

Description

''Plestiodon kishinouyei'' is about 30–40 cm in total length (including tail), with a snout to vent length of 14.0–17.2 cm. It is the largest member of its widely distributed, speciose genus, and thus appears to be an example of

island gigantism Island gigantism, or insular gigantism, is a biological phenomenon in which the size of an animal species isolated on an island increases dramatically in comparison to its mainland relatives. Island gigantism is one aspect of the more general "i ...

References

Endemic reptiles of Japan Plestiodon Reptiles described in 1901 Taxa named by Leonhard Stejneger Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{skink-stub