OK these are very difficult from photos. If the skink is the same size as the other P. entrecasteauxii you were seeing at this location(head and body length about 55 mm) then it most likely is just another entrecasteauxii. However if it is a smaller skink (head and body length about 45 mm) that was literally hugging the leaf litter layer (not going up onto logs etc) it most likely is a snow skink Niveoscincus coventryi. WillO.
I reckon this specimen is a Coventry's Skink (now Carinascincus coventryi), as there are no distinct pale dorso-lateral or mid-lateral stripes and no indication of a vertebral stripe whatsoever, which Pseudemoia entrecasteauxii usually have. There is also no pale facial stripe extending back from below the eye, which is also typical of P. entrecasteauxii. The face and head also appear quite speckled, as you'd expect to find in Carinascincus coventryi.
John and Patrick - just to let you know that, following Patrick's suggestion earlier today that this is Carinascincus coventryi, I have changed it to that species (n.b still Niveoscincus in the CNM system). You can actually get almost pattern-less P. entrecasteauxii in the montane forests in the ACT (plain brown all over) but the pale flecks on the dorsum and tail and as Patrick pints out complete lack of even a slight sign of a dorso-laterat pale stripe is telling. I see also now from looking again that it is also a pretty small bodied skink (even though it is an adult) and that fits with C. coventryi. Cheers, Will Osborne
Describe how you intend to use these images and/or audio files and your request will be sent to the author for consideration.
Your request has been successfully submitted to the author for consideration.
2,153,542 sightings of 19,948 species in 6,481 locations from 11,431 contributors
CCA 3.0 | privacy
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of this land and acknowledge their continuing connection to their culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present.