''Oligosoma suteri'', known commonly as Suter's skink, the black shore skink, the egg-laying skink, and Suter's ground 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 ...

of lizard 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 ...

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 ...

Oviparity

''Oligosoma suteri'' is the only native

skink to lay eggs – hence another of its common names, the "egg-laying skink". (The egg-laying rainbow skink, ''Lampropholis delicata'', is present in some parts of New Zealand, but is introduced from Australia). Females dig nests and lay eggs under sand, pebbles or boulders from late December to mid February. Eggs hatch sooner if incubated at warmer temperatures, taking 75–80 days when incubated at 22 °C, and approximately 55 days at a constant 26 °C.

Geographic range

''Oligosoma suteri'' lives on northern offshore islands, from the

Three Kings Islands 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * ''Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 n ...

to the Alderman Islands, at latitudes north of 37°S.

Biology

''Oligosoma suteri'' inhabits the coast, often very close to the water, eating mainly intertidal

amphipods Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far descri ...

that in turn subsist on dead seaweed. It is known to hunt for prey in rock pools and is a capable swimmer.Towns DR (1975). "Ecology of the black shore skink, ''Leiolopisma suteri'' (Lacertilia: Scincidae), in boulder beach habitats". ''New Zealand Journal of Zoology'' 2(4): 389–407. Suter's skink reaches densities (up to 13/m²) that are among the highest lizard densities recorded anywhere in the world.

Etymology

Both 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 ...

, ''suteri'', and two of the common names, "Suter's skink" and "Suter's ground skink", honour

Henry Suter Henry Suter (born Hans Heinrich Suter, 9 March 1841 – 31 July 1918) was a Swiss-born New Zealand zoologist, naturalist, palaeontologist, and malacologist. Biography Henry Suter was born on 9 March 1841 in Riesbach, Zurich, Switzerland, and ...

(1841–1918), New Zealand zoologist and palaeontologist.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Suter", p. 258).

Oviparity

Geographic range

Biology

Etymology

References

Further reading