Ctenotus essingtonii
Silhouette: David Orr · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
Ctenotus essingtonii, also known commonly as Essington's ctenotus and the lowlands plain-backed ctenotus, is a species of skink. The species can be found in the Northern Territory and Cape York Peninsula of North Queensland.
The specific name, essingtonii, refers to the locality Port Essington, Australia. C. essingtonii is found in the northern portion of the Northern Territory, including the Tiwi Islands. The preferred natural habitat of C. essingtonii is forest.
C. essingtonii may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 6.5 cm (2.6 in). It has five toes on each of its four feet. It is slender, with 26 scale rows at midbody. Sexually mature individuals of C. essingtonii breed during the dry season. The species is oviparous.
Cogger HG (2014). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. xxx + 1,033 pp. ISBN 978-0643100350. Gray JE (1842). "Description of some hitherto unrecorded species of Australian Reptiles and Batrachians". Zoological Miscellany 2: 51–57. (Tiliqua essingtonii, new species, pp. 51... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Litchfield National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Lowlands Plain-backed Ctenotus sighting in Litchfield National Park on a given day, based on 35 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 24 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and August
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Lowlands Plain-backed Ctenotus in Litchfield National Park on a given day, against about 10% in October and November, the lowest months. Those are among Litchfield National Park's wettest months, with about 200 mm of rain a month against almost none in July.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Lowlands Plain-backed Ctenotus sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Lowlands Plain-backed Ctenotus sightings, Litchfield National Park has the highest daily chance: about 50%. Next come Kakadu National Park (Australia, about 20%).
Same family: Scincidae
The closest relatives of the Lowlands Plain-backed Ctenotus that you can see in Litchfield National Park (family Scincidae, Skinks) are Bauxite Rainbow Skink (about 50%), Lined Firetail Skink (about 40%) and Slender Rainbow Skink (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Lowlands Plain-backed Ctenotus is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Litchfield National Park (35 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.
