Oligosoma notosaurus
Silhouette: David Orr · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~60%
The southern skink (Oligosoma notosaurus) is a species of skink in the family Scincidae. It is endemic to New Zealand. This species is only known to inhabit Stewart Island and Codfish Island, south of the South Island, New Zealand. It is also known from Betsy Island in the Stewart Island archipelago. It has been recorded at altitudes between sea level and 700 m.
As of 2012 the Department of Conservation (DOC) classified the southern skink as Not Threatened under the New Zealand Threat Classification System. It is one of the most common lizard species in the Stewart Island archipelago.
This species is found in sand dunes, grasslands, wetlands, scrub and rocky areas, and forest clearings. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rakiura National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Skink sighting in Rakiura National Park on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Skink in Rakiura National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April, June–September and December, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Southern Skink sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Rakiura National Park, in our data
Rakiura National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Southern Skink sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Southern Skink is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Rakiura National Park (16 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.
