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Solomon Island Prehensile-Tailed Skink

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General Information

Prehensile-tailed skinks, also known as monkey-tailed skinks are the largest know species of extant skink. Solomon Islands skinks are herbivores, feeding on the leaves, flowers, fruit, and growing shoots of several different species of plants.

The Solomon Islands skink is one of the few species of reptile that lives in a communal group known as a circulus. They reproduce by viviparous matrotrophy whereby the female provides a placenta for its young, which are born after a gestation period of six to eight months; live births are a rare trait among reptiles.

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Latin name - Corucia zebrata

Class - Reptilia

Family - Scincidae

IUCN Status - Not Evaluated

Habitat - Tropical Forests

Distribution - Solomon Islands Archipelago

Threats

Extensive logging is a serious ongoing threat to the survival of this species, as is consumption for food by native people, and export demand for the pet trade. In 1992 Corucia zebrata was listed as a CITES Appendix II animal, which allows limits to be placed on the number of animals in commercial trade between countries. 

Fun Fact

The Solomon Island prehensile-tailed skink is a living relic, considered one of the most ancient and primitive lizards on Earth. It has remained virtually unchanged for millions of years!

Our Residents

At Battersea Park Children's Zoo we have 2 prehensile-tailed skinks called Uki and Makira; named after two of the Solomon islands they are native to in the wild. 

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