Thursday 23 May
Wright’s skink (Trachylepis wrightii)
Wright’s skink fact file
- Description
- Biology
- Range
- Habitat
- Status
- Threats
- Conservation
- Find out more
- Glossary
- References
- Print factsheet
Wright’s skink description
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Reptilia |
| Order | Squamata |
| Family | Scincidae |
| Genus | Trachylepis (1) |
Skinks (Scincidae) are typically small lizards with smooth, shiny scales and elongate, cylindrical bodies (2), not usually exceeding 12 centimetres in total length (3). In most species, the long, tapering tail is easily shed as a defence mechanism against predators, and can be regenerated (2) (3). Their heads are generally cone-shaped and somewhat flattened, with a long snout, though males of some species develop broad heads, which is thought to be an adaptation to aggressive competition during the breeding season (2) (3). The tongue is broad, has an arrowhead-shaped tip and is covered with serrated scales (3). Skinks are most frequently striped or otherwise patterned (2), but Wright’s skink is more uniformly metallic brown in colour, darker above and paler below, with only faint longitudinal stripes.
More »
Top
Related species
Wright’s skink biology
Wright’s skink is a generalist scavenger and predator, largely dependent on seabird colonies where it feeds on insects attracted to dropped fish, and on the eggs and chicks of the birds (1) (4). It feeds heavily on these items, putting on much weight in the seabird breeding season. For the rest of the year it survives on declining insect populations. Its large size enables Wright’s skink to store large fat reserves sufficient to survive several months until the seabirds return to their breeding colonies (4).
Little is known about the biology of Wright’s skink, although we do know that this skink is an egg-laying species (1). Eggs of skinks are usually laid as single clutches, and may be guarded or abandoned, but in some species they are laid communally. Clutches are typically small in this lizard family, and limited to just one or two eggs in some species (3). Most skink species are diurnal, although some are nocturnal or crepuscular (3).
TopWright’s skink range
Confined only to Seychelles islands with seabird colonies, including Aride, Cousin, Cousine, St. Pierre, Mammelles, Recifs and Frégate. Some historical records also exist from Bird Island, but this appears to have been a temporary introduction (1).
More »
Top
Species with a similar range
Wright’s skink habitat
Found on the ground and occasionally in trees in dry forest and shrubland (1).
More »
Top
Species found in a similar habitat
Wright’s skink status
Classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List (1).
Wright’s skink threats
Although there are no direct threats to Wright’s skink, the seabird colonies on which it depends are at risk from human disturbance. It is therefore highly vulnerable to the loss of any of these colonies (1).
TopWright’s skink conservation
Wright’s skink and the associated breeding seabird colonies are protected in the Aride, Cousin and Cousine Special Reserves (1).
|
View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. |
Authentication
Authenticated (06/02/2007) by Justin Gerlach, Scientific Co-ordinator, The Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles.
http://islandbiodiversity.com
Glossary
- Colonies
- A group of organisms living together. Individuals in the group are not physiologically connected and may not be related, such as a colony of birds.
- Crepuscular
- Active at dusk and/or dawn.
- Diurnal
- Active during the day.
- Nocturnal
- Active at night.
References
- IUCN Red List (June, 2008)
http://www.iucnredlist.org - kaweahoaks.com (December, 2006)
http://kaweahoaks.com/html/skinks.htm - The TIGR Reptile Database (June, 2008)
http://www.tigr.org/reptiles/families/Scincidae.html - Gerlach, J. (2007) Pers. comm.
More »Related species
Sign up to our newsletter
Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.
Get involved
ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!
Wednesday 22 May
In the News: Nature health check finds UK wildlife to be in trouble
Tuesday 21 May
In the News: First crane egg in the western UK in four centuries
X
Close
Close
Image credit
Wright's skink, side view
© Roger de la Harpe / Animals Animals
Animals Animals / Earth Scenes
17 Railroad Avenue
Chatham
NY
12037
United States of America
Tel: +01 (518) 3925500
Fax: +01 (518) 3925550
info@animalsanimals.com
http://www.animalsanimals.com
X
Close
Close
Link to this photo
Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
X
Close
Close
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.
X
Close
Close
Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials
Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.
Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:
- view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
- download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
- teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.
End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.
Additional use of flagged material
Green flagged material 
Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.
Creative commons material
Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.
Any other use
Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.
Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.