Critically Endangered
Oligosoma albornense
Oligosoma albornense
Oligosoma albornense is a skink in the family Scincidae, recorded as Critically Endangered and tied to New Zealand.
Appearance
Although O. Albornense is genetically distinct from other members of the speckled skink complex, it looks similar and can only be distinguished by several subtle characters: less than 69 ventral scales unlike O. Newmani, a narrower head than O. Robinsoni, more subdigital lamellae and a shorter tail than O. Auroraensis. It is a long slender skink with a brown speckled back and a pale dorsolateral stripe with notched edges. A dark brown lateral band is bordered below by a thin pale notched stripe.
Their snout-vent length is up to 87 mm, and they weigh on average 11.5 g.
Range and habitat
O. Albornense is endemic to New Zealand and has been recorded from just one 2 ha site, the Alborn Coal Mine south of Reefton, near Big River. The Alborn Coal Mine had been abandoned for 30 years when this species was first found around discarded mining machinery, in an area that had been cleared but was filled with regenerating native vegetation. Their preferred habitat may be native shrubland and gaps in beech forest.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet
Most skinks forage in leaf litter or under cover. Burrowing species slip through sand or soil more than they climb.
In crisis
It is classified as "Nationally Critical" by the Department of Conservation under the New Zealand Threat Classification System. O. Albornense is classified as "Nationally Critical" in the Department of Conservation's New Zealand Threat Classification System. Before 2015 there were only 7 records of the species, and by 2017 less than 20 individuals had ever been seen.
A 2019 study reported only a single individual in a search of the 2 ha habitat. Their very small range makes them vulnerable to extinction, and they are probably being preyed upon by mice, rats, mustelids, and weka.
Oligosoma albornense is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Oligosoma albornense, Wikidata item Q88635557. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
