Carlia triacantha
Silhouette: David Orr · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The desert rainbow-skink (Carlia triacantha) is an Australian skink in the genus Carlia, commonly known as four-fingered skinks, from the subfamily Lygosominae. It is native to desert woodland regions throughout most of the Northern Territory, the north of Western Australia, and the far north-west of South Australia. It was originally classified as Leiolopisma triacantha, and is sometimes known as the three-spined rainbow-skink.
The desert rainbow-skink is on average 5.3 centimetres (2.1 in) long, excluding the tail. It is characterised by three keels or spines on the dorsal scales. It is typically a mid-brown to grey-brown colour with less pigmentation on the ventral surface, but males display extra colouration, particularly during breeding season.
Desert rainbow-skinks shelter in woodland leaf litter, feeding mainly on invertebrates. Their large eyes help them to see their prey in the dim lighting of the leaf litter, and the eyes are covered by an eyelid with a transparent window that protects the eye while burrowing in the litter.
The desert rainbow-skink is an egg-laying or oviparous reptile. It has an average clutch size of two eggs. During... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Desert Rainbow Skink sighting in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 19th most-seen of the 25 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Desert Rainbow Skink in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August–September and November–April, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Desert Rainbow Skink sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, in our data
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Desert Rainbow Skink sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Scincidae
The closest relatives of the Desert Rainbow Skink that you can see in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (family Scincidae, Skinks) are Leonhardi's Ctenotus (about 20%), Massive-gibber Ctenotus (about 20%) and Leopard Ctenotus (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Desert Rainbow Skink is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (5 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.
