Description:
Scientific name: Egernia hosmeri
Life span: 24.5 years
Egernia hosmeri, often known as Hosmer’s skink or Hosmer’s spiny-tailed skink, is a species of giant skink that belongs to the Scincidae family of lizards.
Mostly reddish-brown on top, Hosmer’s spiny-tailed skink has a few sporadic darker and paler markings throughout the back, legs, and tail. Its body is white, with a few dark brown patches under the chin, a head and neck that are a darker brown color. The round, tapering tail is around 60% of the snout-vent length (SVL), which is 180 mm. The Cunningham’s spiny-tailed skink (Egernia cunninghami), to which it is most closely related, has a flattened and spinner tail than E. hosmeri.
Native Region/Habitat
All over Queensland and the Northern Territory’s dry, rocky terrain, you can find Hosmer’s spiny-tailed skin.
Behavior:
The species, which lives on rocks and is nocturnal, is indigenous to northern Australia. They may also occasionally find shelter in hollow logs and other semi-arboreal settings. They rarely leave a safe crack or fissure, and at the first sign of danger, they dash back to these refuges. They are a scat stacking species; therefore, their presence in a location would be obvious.
Care As a pet/In captivity:
The omnivorous Hosmer’s spiny-tailed skink consumes insects, leaves, shoots, and berries.
Table
