Black Rock Skink
Egernia saxatilis
Family Scincidae
About
The black rock skink is a species of large skink native to Eastern and Southern Australia from central New South Wales to Grampians National Park in Victoria. A large, dark colored skink, up to 135 mm from snout to base of the tail, the black rock skink is the first reptile discovered to have a "nuclear family" structure where the parents form a pair and care for their offspring for more than one year. The black rock skink is a viviparous skink meaning females give birth to live offspring instead of laying eggs. They defend their home range and families against conspecifics for up to several years.
How to spot it
Real occurrence confirmed near Namadgi National Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 2018) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.
Documented on these trails
Found in
- Namadgi National Park — Canberra & Namadgi National Park hikes
Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Egernia saxatilis
Photo via iNaturalist Australia (CC-BY 4.0 (Int)), collected by Keith Martin-Smith