Taxonomy
Common name :
Le scinque de litière cryptique
Cryptic Litter Skink Red List Status -
Data Deficient (DD) , assessed in 11/12/2017Protected species -
in Southern Province , in Northern ProvinceThis species is listed as Data Deficient because it is known from only a single specimen and there is no information on its population size and trends and ecology.
Geographical area
This species is endemic to Province Sud, New Caledonia. It is known from a single specimen collected in 1990 at an elevation of 500 m in Col d'Amieu, on the main dividing range north of La Foa. The extent of occurrence and the area of occupancy are estimated at 4 km2, but continuous habitat like that at the capture site extends for many kilometres east and west along the dividing range.
Population
There is no information on population size and trends for this species. It is expected that past forest clearance for agriculture and wildfires will have reduced the population size and extent. Habitat may also have been lost to logging.
Habitat
This species is found in mid-elevation closed humid forest. It is diurnal, terrestrial and is active in sunlight. It shelters in litter, and basks and forages in sunlit-patches.
Threats
The primary threat to this species will be further loss and fragmentation of habitat resulting from clearance for agriculture and afforestation, and from wildfires. Additional threats include habitat degradation from livestock and introduced ungulates (deer and pigs) which damage the litter layer, predation by introduced mammals (rodents and cats), and the potentially serious effect of high-density populations of the invasive ant Wasmannia auropunctata.
Conservation
This species is protected in Province Nord under Code de l'environnement de la Province Nord (Délibération No. 306-2008/APN, 24 October 2008) and in Province Sud under Code de l'environnement de la Province Sud (Délibération No. 25-2009/APS, 20 March 2009). It is not present in any reserves (but the only known site is immediately adjacent to the Parc Provincial des Grandes Fougères). No conservation management is currently being undertaken. Additional prospections are recommended in order to enhance knowledge on this species.
Bibliography
IUCN 2021. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2021-2.
Uetz, P. (ed.) 2017. The Reptile Database.
Sadlier, R.A., Bauer, A.M. and Colgan, D.J. 1999. The scincid lizard genus Caledoniscincus (Reptilia: Scincidae) from New Caledonia in the Southwest Pacific: a review of Caledoniscincus austrocaledonicus (Bavay) and description of six new species from Province Nord. Records of the Australian Museum(51) , p.57-82.
Jourdan, H., Sadlier, R.A. and Bauer, A.M. 2000. Premières observations sur les conséquences de l’invasion de Wasmannia auropunctata 1863 (Roger) sur les prédateurs supérieurs dans les écosystèmes Néo-calédoniens. Actes des collectes insectes sociaux(13) , p.121-126.
Jourdan, H., Sadlier, R.A. and Bauer, A.M. 2001. Little Fire Ant Invasion (Wasmannia auropunctata) as a threat to New Caledonian lizards: Evidences from a sclerophyll forest (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology(38) , p.283-301.
Bauer, A.M. and Sadlier, R.A. 2000. The Herpetofauna of New Caledonia.
Experts
Assessor(s): Sadlier, R., Bauer, A., Jourdan, H., Astrongatt, S., Deuss, M., Duval, T., Bourguet, E., McCoy, S., Bouteiller, A., Lagrange, A.
Reviewer(s): Cox, N.
Contributor(s): Whitaker, A.
Facilitator(s): Warimavute, G., Lietar, J., Tanguy, V.