''Menetia greyii'', commonly known as the common dwarf skink or Grey's skink, 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 ...

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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 elsew ...

to mainland

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Etymology

The specific name, ''greyii'', is in honour of

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Go ...

, who became

Governor of South Australia The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the Monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-gene ...

and later Governor of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. George Grey was born on the 14th of April 1812 in Portuguese city, Lisbon. He was inspired by

Charles Sturt Charles Napier Sturt (28 April 1795 – 16 June 1869) was a British officer and explorer of Australia, and part of the European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from Sydney and la ...

's discoveries in Australia and in 1836 he left to attempt to establish a settlement in Australia's north-west. He was knighted in 1848. After many accomplishments in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, Sir George Grey returned to London in 1894 and died in 1898.

Geographic range

One of Australia's most widespread and abundant lizards. The common dwarf skink is found across Australia. It is found west of the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...

. It is not recorded to occur in north-east Northern Territory, Cape York Peninsula, southern Victoria or Tasmania, but it is known to occur in all other areas of Australia. The range of the common dwarf skink spans across approximately 93% of the continent. A continuous occurrence record map can be found online at "Atlas of living Australia" through this reference link.

Habitat

''M. greyii'' are widespread and found in many different habitats. It is found in heaths, deserts, woodlands and grasslands. It is also frequently found in urban environments, and is therefore fairly well known. These skinks are known to shelter underneath logs and rocks. They are often found moving through leaf litter on the ground while searching for their main food source of invertebrates. It is widespread on a variety of soil types.

Description

''M. greyii'' is a very small

skink Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. Ski ...

that grows up to 38-40mm, the body is of light build and elongated. It has smooth scales and four limbs, the forelimbs have four digits and the hindlimbs have five digits. It is brownish grey to grey and has dorsal dashes that can form broken lines and broad dark upper lateral and white midlateral stripes. The underbelly of the skink is usually white. Breeding males can be distinguished as they have a yellow/orange flush on the underbelly as well as a pink flush on the throat. Some populations can differ slightly in colour because of the different environments they inhabit. The common dwarf skink has two supraciliary scales, the first is quite small and the second is contacting the

supraocular scale In scaled reptiles, supraocular scales are (enlarged) scales on the crown immediately above the eye.Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. 2003. True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. ...

. It has 3 scales in a line between the eye and the nostril. The common dwarf skink is

fossorial A fossorial () animal is one adapted to digging which lives primarily, but not solely, underground. Some examples are badgers, naked mole-rats, clams, meerkats, and mole salamanders, as well as many beetles, wasps, and bees. Prehistoric eviden ...

, meaning it is a burrowing skink. This species is diurnal. Prey for the common dwarf skink includes insects. Predators of the common dwarf skink include, but not limited to, larger reptiles, avian species and cats.

Reproduction

Common dwarf skinks lay 1-3 eggs in every clutch. ''M. greyii'' is one of a small number of

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...

species that are known to reproduce by

parthenogenesis Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek grc, παρθένος, translit=parthénos, lit=virgin, label=none + grc, γένεσις, translit=génesis, lit=creation, label=none) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which growth and development ...

. A 2007 study discovered that ''Menetia greyii'' skinks are able to reproduce by parthenogenesis as well as by

sexual reproduction Sexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that involves a complex life cycle in which a gamete ( haploid reproductive cells, such as a sperm or egg cell) with a single set of chromosomes combines with another gamete to produce a zygote tha ...

Mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

revealed that parthenogenesis is able to occur in this species. Parthenogenesis is when eggs can mature without being fertilised into clones of the female. This process can occur in some non-mammal species.

Etymology

Geographic range

Habitat

Description

Reproduction

References

Further reading