Pseudemoia sp (genus)

A skink at Charlotte Pass - Kosciuszko NP

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Identification history

	Pseudemoia sp (genus)	9 Mar 2020	MichaelMulvaney
	Pseudemoia rawlinsoni	23 Feb 2020	BrianLR

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User's notes

Found in alpine bog, upstream from snowy river. Not quite able to properly count scales but the cream latrodorsal appears to be on the 3rd scale row.

1 comment

WillO wrote:

25 Feb 2020

It is not possible to identify which species of Pseudemoia this is from this image. There are three possibilities for the alpine zone at this location: P. entrecasteauxii (striped alpine morph), P. pagenstecheri (which also occurs in pretty wet areas as well as grasslands in the alpine zone) and P. rawlinsoni)..It took us along time to work out that the striped alpine skinks were just entrecasteuxii (that was resolved by Steve Donellan's genetic study). As soon as you leave the treeline up at Kosciusko there is a very sharp change from plain brown entrecasteuxii to very striped entrecasteuxii (I guess driven by strong selection pressure from birds of prey in the open grasslands). My guess from what look like some faint additional dark striping in the upper lateral and dorso-lateral parts of the individual is that it might be pagenstecheri. Those secondary lines (between the main stripes) dont seem to ever be on entrecasteuxii or rawlinsoni. However I suggest we accept it only as a Pseudemoia sp. To complicate matters there is another stripey alpine Pseudemoia - P. cryodroma - which has been found right up to the NSW border in the Victorian high country! It may one day be discovered in NSW. Will

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