Egernia saxatilis
Silhouette: Kailah Thorn & Ben King · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~60%
The black rock skink (Egernia saxatilis) is a species of large skink native to Eastern and Southern Australia from central New South Wales to Grampians National Park in Victoria. A large, dark colored skink, up to 135 mm from snout to base of the tail, the black rock skink is the first reptile discovered to have a "nuclear family" structure where the parents form a pair and care for their offspring for more than one year. The black rock skink is a viviparous skink meaning females give birth to live offspring instead of laying eggs. They defend their home range and families against conspecifics for up to several years.
Egernia saxatilis is divided into two separate subspecies: E. saxatilis saxatilis and E. saxatilis intermedia. Morphological and ecological differences exist between the two subspecies. The two subspecies differ in their scale counts and degree of spinosity, along with being found in two different parts of Southeastern Australia in different types of habitats. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Kosciuszko National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black Crevice-skink sighting in Blue Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 34 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 24th most-seen of the 44 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Black Crevice-skink in Blue Mountains National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May–June and August, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black Crevice-skink sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Black Crevice-skink sightings, Blue Mountains National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Grampians National Park (Australia, about 60%) and Kosciuszko National Park (Australia, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black Crevice-skink is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Blue Mountains National Park (34 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
