Story: Lizards

Shore skinks

Shore skinks

These shore skinks (Oligosoma smithi) are basking in the sun on the Alderman Islands, off the Coromandel Peninsula, in 2003. As their name suggests, shore skinks tend to live along the coast, and inland to several hundred metres. They are the most widely distributed species of Oligosoma in the northern North Island. Many populations are known to exist elsewhere on the mainland, and on nearshore islands. They range from the Three Kings Islands southwards to near Auckland on the west coast and Gisborne on the east.

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Department of Conservation
Reference: 10055603
Photograph by Paul Schilov

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How to cite this page:

Kerry-Jayne Wilson, 'Lizards - Lizards in their environment', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/13526/shore-skinks (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Kerry-Jayne Wilson, published 24 Sep 2007, updated 1 Mar 2014