1/4 Vernacular Name SKINK, HOSMER’S (aka: Hosmer’s spiny-tailed skink) GEOGRAPHIC RANGE Australia: Queensland the adjacent border region of the Northwest Territory. HABITAT Drier ranges, rocky out-crops and stony hills. CONSERVATION STATUS IUCN: Not Yet Assessed (2016). COOL FACTS The PZ is the only U.S. zoo that exhibits Hosmer’s skinks. Like the majority of skinks, these skinks can shed their tails when threatened or frightened. Their tails then regrow, but without the patterns of the original. Their horny skins are folded into scales which can reduce water loss and may facilitate the uptake of solar energy. Members of this family have large head scales, body scales that have bony plates underneath them, and a roof of the mouth that is made of 2, flat bony plates instead of 1, as humans and other animals have. The bony plate is called a palate One distinctive feature of skinks is the bony secondary palate in the roof of the mouth which separates the respiratory and digestive passages. These are confluent in most other lizards. As in all lizards, the roof of the mouth contains a Jacobson's organ. The tongue picks up odorous particles from the air or from the surface of objects to the organ for identification. The skink uses its tongue and eyesight to find food. With well over 100 genera and more than 1,400 species, skinks are by far the largest family of lizards, an exceedingly diverse group. Their diversity is evident in all aspects of their biology. Terrestrial, arboreal, fossorial, and even semi-aquatic skinks exist. Skinks have radiated to fill niches in all types of environments, including arid deserts, savannas, lowland rain-forests, temperate forests, and cool montane habitats. Some skinks are diminutive, but others are large. These lizards vary in morphologic characteristics from short and robust with strong, well-developed limbs to elongated and fragile with tiny or no vestigial limbs. Skink, Hosmer’s 2/4 DIET In the wild: insects, spiders and small lizards, leaves, shoots, berries and fruits and invertebrates. In the zoo: crickets and pinkies. MEDIAN LIFE EXPECTANCY Male: unknown. Female: unknown. ENEMIES - DEFENSE Enemies: dingoes, snakes, crows and birds of prey in addition to large introduced feral species such as foxes, dogs and cats; also humans. Defense: - can shed their tails when threatened or attacked. - when disturbed, they retreat into a rock crevice or hollow log. - body armor, e.g., all skinks possess bony plates within their scales which are composed of compound plates of several interconnected bones beneath each scale. Scales overlap in the fashion of shingles on a roof and confers protection from predators. MATING - CARE OF THE YOUNG Courtship: spring-summer (Sept.-Feb.). Gestation: live-bearing (viviparous). The embryos have placental matter similar to that of mammals. Clutch: 1-6 live young are miniatures of their parents. Births: late summer (Feb.). Neonates are precocious, able to look after themselves right after birth. Once born, they immediately ingest their placental membranes and egg sacs. A few days later they shed their first skin and disperse. Breeding: 2-3 years old depending on size. Sexual Maturity: 3-5 years. SOCIAL INTERACTION Communication, Olfactory: skinks have exceedingly well developed olfactory abilities and employ chemical signals in a variety of social and feeding behaviors. They can detect predators and discriminate prey on the basis of chemical cues. They can recognize and determine species, sex and sexual receptivity of other individuals by scent. They scent-mark their home ranges. LIFE STYLE Activity Period: diurnal. Early in the morning they emerge to bask in sunny areas before foraging for food in the warmer parts of the day Locomotion: these skinks are fat and slow, moving in a waddle fashion and folding their hind limbs alongside their tail bases to move by lateral undulations. They are terrestrial and arboreal. Skink, Hosmer’s 3/4 They live in rock crevices, hollows or dead timber, under exfoliated boulders and among tumbled rocks of scree slopes. They live in colonies on rocky ranges and outcrops basking in the sun. During the cold weather they remain inactive, buried deep in their shelter sites and only emerge to bask when weather conditions are favorable. Being ectothermic, they do not produce their own body heat and rely on the warmth of their surroundings for their body heat. PHYSICAL General Description: bulky, usually somewhat flattened bodies. Size: length, 3.9”-9.36”; can grow to around 12”. Color: pale fawn/yellow to reddish-brown above, darker brown on head and neck. A series of pale brown or cream flecks and spots on head, neck and lips. A few scattered pale and dark brown spots on back, flanks, limbs and tail. Ventral: white, cream or yellowish, sometimes with brown flecks and blotches on throat. Scales: the parietal shields are not in contact behind the interparietal shields. The nasal scale has a postnarial groove. On top of head: large, regular, symmetrical and shield-like. On mid- body: in 24-28 rows. The dorsal, flank and posterior scales have spines. Each dorsal scale has 3-4 sharp keels. Each flank scale has 2-3 sharp keels. Each tail scale has one long spine. Head: moderate. Eyes: small. Scaly, movable lower eyelid lowers to open the eye and raises to close the eye. Ears: 3-7 long, pale-colored ear lobules almost conceal the ear. Snout: blunt. Tongue: well-developed, short, relatively broad and fleshy. Can be extended. Tail: 2.34”, moderate, thick, tapering. Limbs: well-developed. Digits: 4 th toe much longer than 3 rd toe. TAXONOMY Phylum / Subphylum Chordata / Vertebrata Class Reptilia Order Squamata Family Scincidae Genus / species Egernia hosmeri The family name, Scincidae, means “shiny scaled”. REFERENCES - Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K. - Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed October 3, 2006. - Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia . 6th ed. Sanibel Island: Ralph Curtis Publishing. Skink, Hosmer’s 4/4 - Hutchins, Michael, James B. Murphy, and Neil Schlager (eds). 2003. Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia . Second Edition. Vol. 7: Reptiles; Turtle & Tortoises to Lizards & Snakes. Farmington Hills, MI: The Gale Group. - Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed at http://www.gbif.org. Mediated distribution data from provider. Uetz, Peter. The Reptile Database - Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2008. The Animal Diversity Web (online). http://animaldiversity.org. - The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2016.1. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 6 July 2016. Prepared by: Judith Ehrman, docent. Date: 03-26-10 Photo by: Greg O’Neill, keeper, Reptile House Map by: Dave Schaffer – Bob Sloane, docents Approved by: Date: Reformatted by: Hannah Salvatore and Dave Schaffer, docents Date: 08-14-12 .