Bermuda rock skink

The Bermuda skink or rock lizard (Plestiodon longirostris, formerly Eumeces longirostris[1][2]) is a critically endangered species and the only endemic land-living vertebrate of Bermuda.[3] It is a relatively small skink (a kind of lizard): adults reach an average snout-to-vent length of about 8 cm (3.1 in).

Bermuda skink
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Plestiodon
Species:
P. longirostris
Binomial name
Plestiodon longirostris
Cope, 1861
Synonyms

Eumeces longirostris

Description

Adult Bermuda skinks (also known as "rock lizards") have dark brown or black backs and are pinkish or light gray on the underside. Juveniles are lighter in color and have black stripes running along the sides of their bodies, which fade with age. Females are thought to retain the stripes longer than males. Adult males have larger heads. Hatchlings have bright blue tails. All have salmon orange cheeks and throat.

The Bermuda skink lives predominantly in rocky coastal areas. They feed on small invertebrates such as cockroaches or woodlices, but also on small terrestrial crustaceans.

While being more active during summer, the Bermuda skink does not hibernate, because the warm climate allows it to be active year-round.

Distribution and conservation status

The species occurs only in Bermuda, and exists mainly on some of the smaller islands and nature reserves on the mainland where the populations are fragmented into isolated pockets.

The Bermuda skink has been listed on the IUCN Red List as critically endangered. It is threatened primarily by habitat destruction, predators introduced by humans (such as cats, rats, American crows, chickens, great kiskadees, yellow crowned night herons, cane toads, anoles,), as well as by human litter: the Bermuda skink has tiny claws on its feet, but no friction pads, and when it gets trapped in cast-away empty glass bottles or soda cans, it cannot climb out and thus starves or dies of heat stress or dehydration.

The Bermuda skink is listed as protected under the 2003 Bermuda Protected Species Act.

Chester Zoo is attempting to increase numbers of the skink with its own captive breeding program.[4]

References
  1. Brandley M.C., Schmitz A., Reeder T.W. (2005). "Partitioned Bayesian analyses, partition choice, and the phylogenetic relationships of scincid lizards." Systematic Biology 54 (3): 373–390. doi:10.1080/10635150590946808
  2. Smith, H.M. (2005). "Plestiodon: a replacement name for most members of the genus Eumeces in North America." Journal of Kansas Herpetology 14: 15–16.
  3. Conyers & Wingate (1996). "Eumeces longirostris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996. Retrieved 11 May 2006.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) Database entry includes justification for why this species is critically endangered
  4. the Chester Zoo was successful in breeding them for the first time in captivity on 9/09/2017 UK zoo creates a skink to save rare lizards (retrieved 11 August 2013)
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