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  Cunningham's Skink ( Egernia cunninghami )



Cunningham's Skink | Egernia cunninghami photo
Cunningham's Skink photographed at Girraween National Park, Queensland.

Photograph by Melanie Cook. Some rights reserved.

Cunningham's Skink | Egernia cunninghami photo
Cunningham's Skink at Bald Rock National Park just over the Queensland border in New South Wales. These lizards were basking on the bare rock

Photograph by ozwildlife. Some rights reserved.




CUNNINGHAM'S SKINK FACTS

distribution map showing range of Egernia cunninghami in Australia

Description
Cunningham's Skink colour varies from almost totally black with a few white spots, to grey with black bands, to rusty red colour.

Size
25-30cm

Environment
around large rock outcrops, sheltering in crevices or under large slabs of rock

Food
mainly vegetarian, eats flowers, berries, shoots and leaves. Juveniles are mostly insect eaters.

Breeding
4 and 6 live young. These usually stay with parents for several years in family groups.

Range
southern Queensland to western Victoria,

Notes
The ridged backward-facing scales of the lower body and tail make it difficult for predators to extract the lizards from rock crevices.



Classification
Class:Reptilia
Order:Squamata (Sauria)
Family:Scincidae
Genus:Egernia
Species:cunninghami
Common Name:Cunningham's Skink