Acritoscincus duperreyi

3 Eastern Three-lined Skink at Tennent, ACT

Acritoscincus duperreyi at Tennent, ACT - 4 Sep 2019
Request use of media

Identification history

Acritoscincus duperreyi 21 Sep 2021 WillO
Pseudemoia pagenstecheri 21 Sep 2019 wombey
Carinascincus coventryi 21 Sep 2019 MichaelMulvaney
Unidentified 4 Sep 2019 KShort

Identify this sighting


Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.

Significant sighting

23 Sep 2019

Pseudemoia rawlinsoni is quite widely spread at high montane and subalpine elevations in the high country south west of Canberra (including along the Brindabella Range and Namadgi area), but is rarely observed. The ACT Wildlife Atlas only had four records of this species, while this is a first for Canberra Nature Map.

10 comments

wombey wrote:
   22 Sep 2019
It's not coventryi and I have tentatively called pagenstecheri. A look at the frontoparietal would have been helpful but I would like to hear Will's opinion.
WillO wrote:
   23 Sep 2019
This is a very good record. Pseudemoia rawlinsoni is quite widely spread at high montane and subalpine elevations in the high country south west of Canberra (including along the Brindabella Range and Namadgi area), but is rarely observed. It is a habitat specialist found mainly in wet heathland and moist tea-tree scrub. It very closely resembles pagenstecheri but has a glossy appearance and has a pale stripe along scale row 3 (from the mid dorsal scale row) whereas the pale stripe is on row 4 in pagenstecheri. This can be seen by carefully looking at the photos (I enlarged them a little to this). Will.
KShort wrote:
   23 Sep 2019
Glad it's a useful record!
I suspect sighting 4233966 (Unidentified on 4 Sep 2019) was the same individual (managed to spot it again in a similar location as I returned along the path) - but you will be better placed to confirm/deny given your knowledge of these skinks.
   24 Sep 2019
Wow! Geoff
WillO wrote:
   24 Sep 2019
I just checked 4233966 - John W had suggested Acritoscincus duperreyi and that is correct. I just accepted the record on John's behalf.
   24 Sep 2019
Will, I am a little confused. Is record 4233966, this record or a separate sighting?
WillO wrote:
   25 Sep 2019
It is another record at same site Geoff - see K Shorts's statement in box 3 above. Cheers Will.
BrianLR wrote:
   29 Aug 2021
Why is this not A. dupperyi? especially without a good view of the head scales, Acritoscincus cant be discounted. Furthermore, being recorded in a much lower, drier area of namadgi, would be more typical of dupperyi, considering rawlinsoni are upland bog dwellers.
Cheers,
Brian.
WillO wrote:
   30 Aug 2021
Thanks for raising this question Brian. I agree with your comment about the site possibly being too dry for it to have supported P. rawlinsoni. The site is in fact high enough at 1167 m but the site appears to be just on the northern edge of a large granite outcrop and no where near a moist habitat. It would be good to go to the exact photograph site to check that out. The site would have to be moist and reasnably extensive - such as a swampy or tea tree lined creekline, or a grassy seepage, wet heath or bog to provide typical habitat for P. rawlinsoni. In addition to our comments in the above thread I would add that in P. rawlinsoni there is a clear white line that starts below the eye and runs at a slight angle to end up just above the ear opening. The pale line then continues back along the side of the lizard as a lower white lateral line. My conclusion without seeing if the fronto parietal shields are fused into a single large plate would be that this is most likely A. duperreyi.
jks wrote:
   20 Sep 2021
I saw this great resource for distinguishing Acritoscincus duperreyi and Pseudemoia rawlinsoni https://twitter.com/FarquharJules/status/1439498627118886912?s=20

Please Login or Register to comment.

Nearby sightings

Page 1 of 1 - image sightings only

Location information

Sighting information

Species information

Record quality

  • Images or audio
  • More than one media file
  • Confirmed by an expert moderator
  • Nearby sighting(s) of same species
  • GPS evidence of location
  • Description
  • Additional attributes
2,148,925 sightings of 19,884 species in 6,408 locations from 11,278 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.