Lerista bougainvillii
Silhouette: Beth Reinke · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Bougainville's skink (Lerista bougainvillii) is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. This species is also commonly called the south-eastern slider and Bougainville's lerista. The specific name, bougainvillii, and the common names, Bougainville's skink and Bougainville's lerista, are in honour of French naval officer Hyacinthe de Bougainville.
L. bougainvillii is found in south-eastern Australia, including north-eastern Tasmania and many Bass Strait islands. Bougainville's skink has very reduced limbs and moves in a snake-like manner. The preferred natural habitats of L. bougainvillii are forest and shrubland. However, it is seldom seen, as much of its life is spent beneath leaf-litter, loose sand, and thin stone slabs.
The mode of reproduction of L. bougainvillii varies. Some populations are oviparous, but other populations are viviparous. Cogger HG (2014). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. xxx + 1,033 pp. ISBN 978-0643100350.
Gray JE (1839). "Catalogue of the Slender-tongued... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melbourne | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Southeastern Slider sighting in Melbourne on a given day, based on 31 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 16th most-seen of the 23 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February, June and August–September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Southeastern Slider in Melbourne on a given day, against under 5% in March–May, July and October–January, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Southeastern Slider sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Melbourne, in our data
Melbourne is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Southeastern Slider sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Scincidae
The closest relatives of the Southeastern Slider that you can see in Melbourne (family Scincidae, Skinks) are Common Bluetongue (about 20%), Pale-flecked Garden Sunskink (about 20%) and Southern Weasel Skink (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Southeastern Slider is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Melbourne (31 verified sightings), 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.
