The common skink (''Oligosoma polychroma''), also known as the northern grass skink,Northern grass skink
" ''Department of Conservation''. Retrieved 23 September 2022. is a 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 ...

. Although historically classified as a subspecies of ''

Oligosoma nigriplantare ''Oligosoma nigriplantare'', the Chatham Islands skink, is a species of skink in the family Scincidae. It is the sole reptile species found on the Chatham Islands of New Zealand, where it occurs on all the major islands except Chatham Island i ...

'', it is likely to be given separate species status as data suggests it is a distinct species.

Distribution

The common skink is widespread in New Zealand from

Stewart Island Stewart Island ( mi, Rakiura, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across the Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a total land ar ...

to the middle of

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

Conservation status

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 ...

classified the common skink as Not Threatened 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

*
Image of the holotype specimen of the common skink held at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Oligosoma Reptiles of New Zealand Reptiles described in 1990 Taxa named by Geoff B. Patterson Taxa named by Charles H. Daugherty {{Lygosominae-stub