Solomon Islands skink
corucia zebrata latin

The Solomon Islands skink is represented in both public and private collections.

The Solomon Islands skink has a long, slender body, strong, short legs, and a triangular shaped head with small round eyes.

The Solomon Islands skink is completely herbivorous, eating many different fruits and vegetables including the pothos plant.

The Solomon Islands skink is one of the few species of reptile that lives in a communal group known as a circulus.

Solomon Islands Skink (Corucia zebrata)

The Solomon Islands skink was first described by John Edward Gray in 1856 as Corucia zebrata.

Most of these species belong to Egernia sensu stricto, and similar behaviour is also known in the related Solomon Islands Skink (Corucia zebrata).

The Solomon Islands skink is native to the Solomon Islands, a group of islands in the south-west Pacific Ocean.

It is the namesake genus of the Egernia genus-group, which also includes the Solomon Islands Skink (Corucia), Cyclodomorphus and the blue-tongued skinks (Tiliqua).

The Solomon Islands skink reproduces by viviparous matrotrophy: the female provides a placenta for its young, which are born after a gestation period of six to eight months; this is a rare trait among reptiles.

The iris of the northern Solomon Islands skink is a mix of green and yellow whereas the iris of the common Solomon Islands skink can vary from several different shades of green to orange to a dark black.

Solomon Islands Skink (Corucia zebrata)

Most of these species belong to Egernia sensu stricto, and similar behaviour is also known in the related Solomon Islands Skink (Corucia zebrata).

The Solomon Islands skink (Corucia zebrata) is an arboreal species of skink endemic to the Solomon Islands.

The young skink will often climb on the abaxial area of the female or male for protection and security, just as in the case of the Solomon Islands skink (Corucia zebrata).

However in 1997 it was determined that there are two subspecies of the Solomon Islands skink: the common monkey-tailed skink (Corucia zebrata zebrata) and the northern monkey-tailed skink (Corucia zebrata alfredschmidti).