Critically Endangered
Terror skink
Phoboscincus bocourti
Terror skink is a skink in the family Scincidae — Phoboscincus bocourti, recorded as Critically Endangered and tied to New Caledonia.
Appearance
P. Bocourti is about 50 centimetres (20 in) in total length (among them tail), and 28 cm (11 in) in snout-to-vent length (SVL).
First described in 1876, the species was presumed to be extinct, but was rediscovered in 1993, and since then several individuals have been seen.
Range and habitat
Terror skink is endemic to two islets offshore of the Île des Pins (Isle of Pines), an island off the coast of New Caledonia. Its extant range is severely limited as the islets' surfaces combine to about 0.9 square kilometres (0.35 sq mi). Even so, it may be present on other islands in the locality.
With such a small area of occupation, P. Bocourti is subject to threats such as habitat loss through a typhoon or wildfire, and the possibility of predatory animals being introduced to the island.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
The teeth of P. Bocourti are long, curved and sharp, suggesting predatory habits unusual for a large skink. Most skinks are omnivorous. For a significant period of time, its diet went unknown. Potential prey were thought to be larger invertebrates, other lizards, young birds, and eggs.
A 2022 study found P. Bocourti to largely be a dietary specialist on Geograpsus land crabs, namely the species Geograpsus grayi, with it using its large teeth and incredibly high bite force to penetrate the crabs' tough exoskeleton. One study, based on isotopic results and anecdotal data, suggests it may also prey on another giant lizard sharing its habitat, the New Caledonian giant gecko (Rhacodactylus leachianus), making P. Bocourti an apex predator.
In crisis
Because of its small area of occupation and small population size, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being "critically endangered". The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being "critically endangered".
Terror skink 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 Terror skink, Wikidata item Q94878. 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.
