The Barrier skink (''Oligosoma judgei'') 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 medium-sized

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 ...

, a

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 New Zealand, where it lives in the alpine

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

of the Darran and Takitimu Mountains of Fiordland. It is one of only two species of New Zealand skinks that live ''exclusively'' in the alpine zone, the other being the " Sinbad skink", ''Oligosoma pikitanga'', a closely related species of similar appearance which is found in the same part of the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

. The Barrier skink was first collected in the 1960sJewell, Tony (2008). ''A Photographic Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of New Zealand''. (Photographs by Rod Morris). New Zealand: New Holland Publishers. 144 pp. . but was overlooked until rediscovery by a pair of mountain climbers in 2005; the species was scientifically described in 2009.

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''judgei'', is in honor of Bronwyn Judge and Murray Judge, two New Zealand rock climbers who discovered this skink on Barrier Knob.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael, Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Oligosoma judgei'', p. 137).

Conservation status

The conservation status of this species, ''O. judgei'', was thought to be secure, primarily because invasive mammalian predator populations could not become established in the harsh climate of the high alpine zone where they lived and also, because vast areas of undisturbed habitat remain intact.Patterson, Geoff B.; Bell, Trent P. (2009). "The Barrier skink, ''Oligosoma judgei'' n. sp. (Reptilia: Scincidae) from the Darran and Takitimu Mountains, South Island, New Zealand". ''Zootaxa'' 2271: 43-56. However, in 2012 the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

reclassified the Barrier Skink as Nationally Endangered 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 ...

References

External links

Images of the Barrier skink
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3350582 Oligosoma Endangered biota of New Zealand Reptiles of New Zealand Reptiles described in 2009 Taxa named by Geoff B. Patterson Taxa named by Trent Bell Endemic reptiles of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand