Spotted green tree skink

Emerald's tree skink
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia (Animals)
Phylum: Chordata (Chorda animals)
Class: Reptilia (Reptiles)
Order: Squamata (Scale reptiles)
Suborder: Sauria (Lizards)
Family: Scincidae (Skinks)
Genus: Lamprolepis
Species: Lamprolepis smaragdina

_The Spotted green tree skink, smaragd-skink (Lamprolepis smaragdina) is a lizard of the family of skinks, (Scincidae).
An other name is also 'Emerald tree skink', because the species was count for a long time to the family Dasia, that's why this older scientific name, now and then is still in use.

Description
_This green skink grows to a maximum length of 30 cm. and is easy to recognize because of the pretty long neck and the smooth clear green color even of the belly, but some species do have a brownish color on the back, legs and flanks.
Also this skink does have very smooth scales and the legs are somewhat wide from each other.
The animal is very lithe and has well developed legs for a skink and a pretty pointing snout.

In general
_The Emerald skink lives as a big exception from other skinks in trees, in high bushes and on rough walls like concrete fences etc. and also not too much close to the ground; till several meters height it will crawl over branches looking for prey, mostly insects and other small non-vertebrae.
The skink is seldom to see on the ground and is excisting in Asia, New-Guinea, Borneo, and many surrounding islands, and is also living in humided rainforests with close densed bushes.
The subspecies L.S. philippinica is endemic in the Filippines.

Redactie: info(at)rijskamp.com                           
Cagayan de Oro June 22, 2007

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