Have you seen this skink? - Rare lizard species found in Southland may be at risk of extinction

Tuesday, 4 July 2017

Have you seen this skink?

 A rare species of skink only seen once in Southland may be at risk of extinction.

The mysterious Awakopaka skink, named after the glacier carved landscape of Fiordland, has only been spotted alive once near the Homer Tunnel in Fiordland National park.

Lizard scientist Tony Jewell discovered the unique skink while photographing weta near the tunnel in 2014.

Since then, there had been a search with several other scientists but they only managed to find a skink that had died.

Further searches in the area had proved fruitless but Jewell said he and several other scientists would return to the area in the future when they could fund the trip.

He found the skink after he overturned a rock he was sitting on.

'I was sitting on it for about five or 10 minutes before I found it.'

Jewell quickly knew that the skink was something different, having found it in the alpine zone near the tunnel, he said.

He spent the next ten minutes taking photographs before replacing the rock to its original position, he said.

The species was characterised by large feet and a unique pattern of scales around its eyes. It is also coloured brown with pale spots on its sides and a bright yellow belly.

The upshot was that Jewell was able to get DNA testing done that proved it was a new species.

Little was known about how the lizard survived living in the area, but it was not alone. Two other lizard species, the Barrier skink and the Cascade gecko, also lived near the tunnel. where they live in dry crevices on the steep rocky mountain bluffs, Jewell said.

Southland was home to at least 20 lizard species, more than half of which are endemic to the region, he said.

Southlands lizards include some of the rarest and most endangered of all New Zealand wildlife and the Awakopaka skink was no exception, Jewell said. 

The brown colour pattern suggested it may be more of a ground dweller than the other lizards near the tunnel, which have rock-like camouflage.

If that were true, it may leave it vulnerable to ground-dwelling predators such as rats and stoats.

'If the Awakopaka skink is indeed suffering at the hands of introduced predators, the window of opportunity to save it from extinction may be fast closing,' Jewell said.