The Nevis skink (''Oligosoma toka'') is a nationally vulnerable species of

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 ...

native to

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 ...

. It is named in honour of the location of its habitat, the Nevis valley.

Conservation status

As of 2012 the Department of Conservation (DOC) classified the Nevis skink as Nationally Vulnerable under the

New Zealand Threat Classification System The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand. The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had some ...

Similar species

The Nevis skink can be mistaken for the more common

northern grass skink The common skink (''Oligosoma polychroma''), also known as the northern grass skink,Holotype specimen of Oligosoma toka held at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Image of a Nevis skink
Oligosoma Endemic reptiles of New Zealand Reptiles described in 2011 Taxa named by David G. Chapple Taxa named by Trent Bell Taxa named by Stephanie N.J. Chapple Taxa named by Kimberly A. Miller Taxa named by Geoff B. Patterson Taxa named by Charles H. Daugherty {{Lygosominae-stub