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Oligosoma homalonotum (BOULENGER, 1906)

IUCN Red List - Oligosoma homalonotum - Vulnerable, VU

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Eugongylinae (Eugongylini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Chevron skink 
SynonymLygosoma homalonotum BOULENGER 1906
Lygosoma (Leiolopisma) homalonotum — SMITH 1937: 223
Leiolopisma homalonotum — MCCANN 1955
Leiolopisma homalonotum — GREER 1974: 16
Leiolopisma gracilicorpus HARDY 1977: 241
Lygosomella gracilicorpus — WELLS & WELLINGTON 1985
Lygosomella homalonotum — WELLS & WELLINGTON 1985
Leiolopisma homolanotum — GREER 1974 (in error ?)
Leiolopisma homolanotum — WORTHY 1991
Oligosoma homalonotum — PATTERSON & DAUGHERTY 1995
Oligosoma gracilicorpus — PATTERSON & DAUGHERTY 1995
Oligosoma homalonotum — HITCHMOUGH et al. 2016 
DistributionGreat Barrier Island, Little Barrier Island (New Zealand)

Type locality: Great Barrier Island (but see comment)

gracilicorpus: New Zealand (Hokianga)  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: WRM 60/355 (Whanganui Regional Museum in Whanganui, New Zealand), said to be from Flat Island, Mokohinau Islands, NZ, collected H. Suter. Locality in error, see Hardy, 1977. Note that there is also a specimen in BMNH (1946.8.17.44, formerly 1907.3.13.3, Great Barrier Island, NZ), recorded as the holotype - presumably this represents a subsequent, non-type specimen (see also O. suteri). 
Diagnosis 
CommentConservation: DAUGHERTY et al. (1994) state that Leiolopisma gracilicorpus “is either extinct or synonymous with an existing species”.

Synonymy: CHAPPLE et al. (2009) formally synonymized Leiolopisma gracilicorpus with Oligosoma homalonotum.

Distribution: “The chevron skink was described by Boulenger (1906) from “Flat Is, Mokohinau Islands" but has never been located in the group since. Both McCann (1955) and Hardy (1977) noted that locality labels on the two specimens had been interchanged after the original description. The chevron skink had therefore been incorrectly attributed to the Mokohinau Islands” (Towns et al. 2002). The correct type locality is thus on the Great Barrier Islands. 
References
  • Baling, M. 2003. The habitat use, behaviour, and population genetic structure of the chevron skink (Oligosoma homalonotum). Unpublished MSc Thesis,The University of Auckland, New Zealand
  • Barr, B. P. 2009. Spatial ecology, habitat use and the impacts of rats on chevron skinks (Oligosoma homalonotum) on Great Barrier Island. Unpublished MSc thesis, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand, 166 pp
  • Boulenger, GEORGE A. 1906. Descriptions of two new lizards from New Zealand. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. 17: 369-371 - get paper here
  • Daugherty, Charles H.; Patterson, G. B.; Hitchmough, R. A. 1994. Taxonomic and conservation review of New Zealand herpetofauna. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 21 (4): 317-323 - get paper here
  • Greer, A.E. 1974. The generic relationships of the scincid lizard genus Leiolopisma and its relatives. Australian Journal of Zoology 31: 1-67. - get paper here
  • Hardy, G. 1977. The New Zealand Scincidae: a taxonomic study. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 4: 221-325 - get paper here
  • Henle, K. 1981. Die Herpetofauna Neuseelands, Teil 3: Einheimische Skinke. Herpetofauna 3 (14): 14-18 - get paper here
  • Hitchmough, R. A., Hoare, J.M., Jamieson, H., Newman, D., Tocher, M.D. and Anderson, P. J. 2010. Conservation status of New Zealand reptiles, 2009. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 37 (3): 203-224 - get paper here
  • Hitchmough, Rodney A.; Geoffrey B. Patterson, and David G. Chapple 2016. Putting a Name to Diversity: Taxonomy of the New Zealand Lizard Fauna. in: Chapple, D.G. (ed). New Zealand Lizards. Springer, pp. 87-108 - get paper here
  • Neilson, K.; Curran, J. M.; Towns, D.R. and Jamieson, H. 2006. Habitat use by chevron skinks (Oligosoma homalonotum) (Sauria : Scincidae) on Great Barrier Island. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 30:345-356
  • Neilson, K.A. 2002. Evaporative water loss as a restriction on habitat use in endangered New Zealand endemic skinks. Journal of Herpetology 36: 342-348 - get paper here
  • Patterson, G.B.; Daugherty, C.H. 1995. Reinstatement of the genus Oligosoma (Reptilia: Lacertilia: Scincidae). J. Royal Soc. New Zealand 25 (3): 327-331 - get paper here
  • Smith, M.A. 1937. A review of the genus Lygosoma (Scincidae: Reptilia) and its allies. Records of the Indian Museum 39 (3): 213-234
  • Towns, D.R.; Neilson, K. and Whitaker, A.H. 2002. North Island Oligosoma spp. Skink recovery plan. Threatened species recovery plan 48. Department of Conservation, Wellington
  • West, J.A. 1979. Range extension for Leiolopisma homalonotum (Boulenger). Herpetofauna (Sydney) 10 (2): pp. ?
  • Winkel, D. van, Baling, M. & Hitchmough, R. 2018. Reptiles and Amphibians of New Zealand: A field guide. Auckland University Press, Auckland, 376 pp.
  • Worthy, T. H. 1991. Fossil skink bones from Northland, New Zealand, and description of a new species of Cyclodina, Scincidae. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 21: 329-348 - get paper here
 
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