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Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands Skink (Oligosoma lichenigerum)

A small, island endemic skink recorded from the Lord Howe Island Group and the Norfolk Island Group. On development or infrastructure sites, retain native vegetation, dense root mats, leaf litter and surface refuges, and treat any skink found during clearing as a threatened fauna matter.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Vulnerable.

Breeding season

The species is an egg-laying skink, but no breeding, hatching or seasonal months are recorded. Treat all months as potential work-risk periods, with local surveys and weather conditions used to refine timing before clearing.

Reproductive mode: Oviparous

Clutch size: Reported as 1 to 4 eggs, with sources variously recording 1 to 3, 2 to 3 and an average of 4 eggs

Incubation: Around 68 days

Size at hatching: Not recorded

Age at maturity: First breeding at 36 to 48 months

Nest or egg sites: Not recorded

Breeding frequency: Not recorded

Confirm timing locally before works, using recent records, spotter catcher observations and rainfall or temperature conditions that may change surface activity and refuge use.

  • Mating: Mating months are not recorded for this species or the related Oligosoma suteri. All months are shown as potential timing for planning because no seasonal window has been established.
  • Gravid females: Months when females carry eggs are not recorded. Treat females as potentially gravid in any month until local survey information indicates otherwise.
  • Egg laying: Egg-laying months and nest sites are not recorded. The species lays eggs, with reported clutches of 1 to 4 eggs, so inspect and retain suitable ground refuges in every month.
  • Incubation: Incubation is reported as around 68 days, but the start months are unknown. Eggs could therefore be present in nests or sheltered ground during any month.
  • Hatchlings: Hatching and juvenile emergence months are not recorded for this species or the related Oligosoma suteri. Consider small skinks and occupied refuges a year-round possibility during clearing.
  • Active period: The species is described as cathemeral and active year round in the available profile information. Activity is more diurnal in winter and more nocturnal in summer, so avoid relying on time of day to detect animals.
  • Winter inactivity: Brumation, hibernation and a winter inactivity period are not recorded. During June to August, continue checking rocks, rock holes, tree splits, root mats and other refuges because animals may be sheltering when machinery is operating.
  • Highest clearing risk: No breeding or young-of-year peak is documented, so no higher-risk months can be identified. Clearing risk remains year round because eggs, hatchlings and active or sheltering skinks may be present, with rocks, tree splits, rock holes and dense root mats requiring inspection.

Identification

This is a small, four-legged skink with a maximum recorded snout to vent length of 80 mm. Field identification should be supported by photographs and expert review because the supplied documents provide limited external description and the species occurs with the Lord Howe Island gecko on parts of its range.

Adults have a reported mean female snout to vent length of 62 mm, while hatchlings are about 30 mm. The greatest reported snout to vent length is 80 mm.

The reported maximum body mass is 10.56 g, but this value was calculated from length rather than weighed. A separate source uses 11 g as the heaviest recorded mass.

Maximum snout to vent length: 80 mm

Mean adult female snout to vent length: 62 mm

Hatchling snout to vent length: 30 mm

Computed maximum body mass: 10.56 g

Identification: Distinguishing features

The species is a skink rather than a gecko and has four legs. On the Norfolk Island Group it occurs on Phillip Island, where the Lord Howe Island gecko is also recorded elsewhere in the group.

The supplied documents do not provide a diagnostic colour, dorsal pattern, pupil description or scale character. Do not rely on an unverified visual feature when making a regulatory identification.

  • Use clear photographs of the whole animal, head, back, sides and underside where safe to do so.
  • Record the exact location, substrate, nearby vegetation and whether the animal was active or sheltering.
  • Obtain confirmation from a suitably experienced herpetologist or the relevant conservation authority where identification is uncertain.

Identification: Field signs

The recovery plan describes daytime sheltering under rocks, in splits in trees and in holes in rocks. It also records feeding among leaf litter.

No species-specific tracks, scats, calls, sloughs or nest signs are documented in the supplied sources. Absence of these signs should not be used to conclude that the species is absent.

  • Inspect beneath loose rocks and around rock holes before moving or removing surface material.
  • Check dense root mats, grass tussocks, native flax and Moo-oo stands for sheltering or foraging skinks.
  • Use a controlled search and fauna handling procedure during clearing rather than relying on passive sign detection.

Distribution: National range

The species has an island distribution in Australia, centred on the Lord Howe Island Group and the Norfolk Island Group. The supplied documents do not identify an Australian mainland occurrence or assign the species to a named bioregion.

The species is endemic to the Lord Howe Island Group and the Norfolk Island Group. On the Norfolk Island Group, it has been recorded only on Phillip Island despite survey effort on Nepean Island and many small rocky islets.

The recovery plan records the species as broadly distributed across the Lord Howe Island Group. The supplied material does not provide a state or bioregion name for its Lord Howe Island records.

Australian island groups: Lord Howe Island Group and Norfolk Island Group

Mainland records: None identified in the supplied documents

Named Norfolk Island Group stronghold: Phillip Island

Norfolk Island Group distribution: 286 ha, with 100% in national park according to the recovery plan

Distribution: Subpopulations and abundance

The Phillip Island population is described as large and secure. Suitable habitat increased after rabbits were removed in 1986, and the population was considered at least as abundant in 2005 as in 1978.

The recovery plan gives an estimated population of 7,000 in 2023. It does not provide a separate estimate for Phillip Island, the Lord Howe Island Group or other subpopulations.

Estimated population in 2023: 7,000

2034 recovery target: Increase area of occupancy by at least 10%

Phillip Island status: Large and secure in the recovery plan

Habitat: Habitat types

The skink uses a wide range of terrestrial habitats, from exposed rocky areas to heavily wooded gullies. It is most associated with places that provide dense vegetation, root mats, leaf litter and surface cover.

Recorded habitats range from bare cliffs and eroded slopes to narrow, heavily wooded gullies. The broader trait data lists grassland and shrubland, with tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest as the biome.

On Phillip Island, higher densities occur where vegetation has formed dense root mats. These may occur in grasses, but are especially associated with Moo-oo, Cyperus lucidus, and native flax, Phormium tenax.

Recorded habitat range: Bare cliffs, eroded slopes and heavily wooded gullies

Vegetation associations linked with higher density: Dense root mats, grasses, Moo-oo and native flax

Broad habitat categories: Grassland and shrubland

Habitat: Site conditions

The trait data gives an elevation range of 288 to 710 m above sea level. The recovery plan identifies drying conditions and reduced soil moisture associated with climate change as threats.

For clearing assessments, map rocky cover, root mats, leaf litter, grass and native flax as habitat features rather than assessing vegetation only by canopy cover.

Reported elevation range: 288 to 710 m above sea level

  • Retain connected patches of native ground vegetation and root mats where practicable.
  • Avoid unnecessary removal of rocks, fallen material and other surface cover.
  • Assess habitat continuity between gullies, slopes and vegetated patches before works begin.

Foraging habitat: Food

The species feeds on small invertebrates in and around leaf litter and dense ground vegetation. Its foraging range and home range have not been documented in the supplied material.

The recovery plan records beetles, spiders, moths, ants and other insects. The trait data also reports arthropods and bird eggs in the diet.

No quantitative data are provided on prey selection, daily intake in the wild or the distance travelled while foraging.

Documented prey: Beetles, spiders, moths, ants and other insects

Additional reported food: Bird eggs

Foraging range: Not documented in the supplied sources

Foraging habitat: Foraging places

The species feeds among leaf litter, particularly where dense root mats provide cover and access to prey. Moo-oo, native flax and grass root mats are therefore relevant foraging habitat.

Works that strip litter, compact soil or remove root mats can reduce feeding habitat even where larger shrubs and trees are retained.

  • Keep leaf litter and dense ground cover intact outside the approved work footprint.
  • Minimise soil compaction around root mats and retained native flax or Moo-oo.
  • Inspect leaf litter and ground vegetation before mechanical clearing or material movement.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

The species lays eggs, but the supplied documents provide little information on breeding timing, incubation or the location of nests. Retaining sheltered ground habitat is the best-supported site measure.

The trait data identifies the species as oviparous. Reported clutch information is inconsistent: one entry gives an average clutch of four eggs, while another gives two to three eggs per clutch.

Age at first breeding is reported as 36 to 48 months. The supplied documents do not provide incubation duration, egg dimensions, breeding months or a confirmed nest-site description.

Reproduction: Oviparous

Clutch size: Two to three eggs per clutch is reported, with an average of four eggs also reported

Age at first breeding: 36 to 48 months

Incubation: Not documented in the supplied sources

Lifespan: Up to 7 years reported

Breeding habitat: Breeding habitat

No specific nest chamber, substrate or vegetation height is documented. The species uses rocks, tree splits and rock holes for shelter, and higher densities occur in dense root mats.

During clearing, treat intact ground cover, rock features and root mats as potential breeding habitat even if eggs or adults are not visible.

  • Retain dense root mats and connected ground vegetation wherever possible.
  • Search and hand-clear suitable surface refuges before machinery enters the area.
  • If an egg-laying site or occupied refuge is suspected, stop work in that immediate area and follow the project fauna management procedure.

Sheltering habitat: Known refuges

Daytime shelter is provided by rocks, rock holes, splits in trees and dense vegetation. The sources do not give refuge dimensions, burrow lengths or preferred rock sizes.

The recovery plan records sheltering under rocks, in splits in trees and in holes in rocks during the day. Dense root mats, particularly those associated with grasses, Moo-oo and native flax, also provide cover for hiding and foraging.

The species is cathemeral in the trait data, but the recovery plan describes it as nocturnal. Sheltering habitat should therefore be protected during both day and night works.

  • Inspect rock piles, exposed bedrock, rock holes and tree splits before disturbance.
  • Retain dense root mats, leaf litter and ground vegetation within and beside the work area.
  • Do not fill or relocate potential refuges without first checking them under the approved fauna procedure.

Sheltering habitat: Refuge dimensions

No measured refuge dimensions are provided. The maximum reported snout to vent length is 80 mm, but this should not be used to infer a required refuge size.

Documented refuge size: Not provided

Maximum snout to vent length: 80 mm

  • Use the presence of suitable cover and connectivity as the field assessment measure rather than applying an unverified refuge-dimension threshold.

Threats: Clearing and habitat change

The main site risks are loss or degradation of native vegetation, removal of ground cover and refuges, introduced predators and drying conditions. The recovery plan identifies current or future clearing risk as negligible for the Norfolk Island population, but clearing controls remain relevant wherever habitat is proposed for disturbance.

Past clearing and past grazing-related degradation are both rated high risks in the recovery plan. Current or future clearing and grazing are rated negligible in its Norfolk Island risk assessment, but the recovery objective still seeks an increase in area of occupancy.

Removing dense root mats, leaf litter, rocks or native ground vegetation can reduce shelter and foraging habitat even when the cleared area is small.

  • Avoid clearing native vegetation and ground cover outside the approved footprint.
  • Fence exclusion zones around retained root mats, rocky refuges and native flax or Moo-oo stands.
  • Keep stock, vehicles and stored materials away from retained habitat to prevent grazing, crushing and soil compaction.

Threats: Predators and invasive species

Rats and cats on Norfolk Island are identified as preventing establishment there. The recovery plan also identifies the risk of rats, cats or other predators or competitors reaching Phillip Island.

Potential new invasive species or pathogens reaching Phillip Island are rated a medium risk. Weed invasion is listed as almost certain exposure, although its assessed consequence is negligible in the table.

  • Apply project hygiene and quarantine controls to vehicles, machinery, materials and freight moving between islands or sites.
  • Do not leave food, waste or sheltering materials that could support introduced predators.
  • Report evidence of rats, cats or other introduced predators through the relevant island management system.

Threats: Climate, fire and disease

Changes to vegetation, increased fire risk and direct physiological stress from climate change are rated an extreme threat. Drying conditions and reduced soil moisture are specifically identified.

The supplied documents do not identify a current disease problem or a species-specific road mortality assessment. New invasive pathogens remain a potential risk.

  • Retain shaded ground cover and vegetation that helps maintain soil moisture.
  • Prevent avoidable ignition, fuel disturbance and damage to vegetation around known habitat.
  • Use clean equipment and follow site biosecurity procedures where disease or pathogen transfer is a risk.

Survey methodology: 1. Nocturnal searches

Survey effort should reflect the species’ limited detectability and fragmented knowledge base. The skink is cathemeral, with records of nocturnal activity, and shelters by day under rocks, in tree splits and in rock holes. Target surveys at known or potential island habitat, particularly dense root mats, grass, native flax and leaf litter.

Conduct searches after dark because the species is reported as nocturnal in the Norfolk Island Group, while recognising that activity can vary between day and night and between seasons.

Search slowly through leaf litter and dense root mats, and inspect the edges of grass and native flax stands.

Use hand-held lights and record weather, start and finish times, observers, route and area searched.

Give particular attention to bare cliffs, eroded slopes, wooded gullies and other areas containing rocks, tree splits or rock holes.

Survey methodology: 2. Diurnal refuge searches

Search potential daytime refuges under loose rocks, around rock holes and within tree splits before any disturbance occurs.

Replace rocks and other cover exactly as found unless they must be removed for safety or authorised works.

Treat each refuge search as a disturbance that requires a record of the feature searched, its location and whether a skink was detected.

Typical daytime refuges: Under rocks, in splits in trees and in holes in rocks

Recorded activity pattern: Cathemeral, with nocturnal activity reported for the Norfolk Island Group

Survey methodology: 3. Habitat and record searches

Map dense root mats, grass, native flax, leaf litter, rock cover and wooded gullies across the proposed disturbance area and adjoining retained habitat.

Search the full area proposed for clearing and a connected area of retained habitat where access is safe, rather than relying only on point observations.

Record the survey boundary, transect or search route, search time, conditions, observers, detection method and exact location of every individual or sign.

Do not treat a failed search as evidence of absence, because the available species information is based on few individual records and the biology and conservation status remain fragmentary.

Recorded elevation range: 288 to 710 metres above sea level

Recorded range size: 15 square kilometres

Maximum snout to vent length: 80 millimetres

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • Use the project ecologist’s written survey design to set the number of nights, hours, transects and search area, because the supplied documents do not provide a species-specific survey guideline or minimum effort standard.
  • Increase search coverage where habitat is dense, access is difficult or the works may remove rocks, root mats, tree splits or leaf litter.
  • Submit confirmed records, negative survey results where required, photographs and spatial data to the relevant state or territory wildlife database.
  • Report any record from a project site promptly to the relevant approving authority and incorporate it into the fauna management plan.
  • Retain field sheets, photographs, track logs, weather data and chain of custody records for specimens or photographs.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise

Treat any proposed disturbance within the species’ known island range as a potential impact until habitat and occupancy have been assessed. The species is listed as Vulnerable under the EPBC Act, and the supplied recovery plan identifies habitat degradation, introduced predators and climate-related changes as risks.

First avoid clearing dense root mats, native flax, Moo-oo, grass cover, wooded gullies, rock refuges and tree splits that may provide shelter or foraging habitat.

Retain connected patches of suitable vegetation and cover between the work area and other retained habitat.

Do not set a generic buffer distance unless it has been justified by the project ecologist, site conditions, safety requirements and approval conditions.

Avoid introducing rats, cats or other predators and competitors to Phillip Island or other occupied islands.

Norfolk Island Group distribution: Recorded only on Phillip Island

Norfolk Island Group tenure: The supplied recovery plan reports 286 hectares of known range, all in national park

Key identified risks: Habitat loss and degradation, introduced predators or competitors, climate-related vegetation change, increased fire risk and physiological stress

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and work planning

Check whether the action requires assessment or approval under the EPBC Act because the species is nationally listed as Vulnerable.

Check applicable state or territory requirements before survey, capture, handling, relocation, clearing or rehabilitation works; the recovery plan records Vulnerable status under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 in New South Wales.

Prepare a fauna management plan that identifies no-go areas, survey results, daily inspection requirements, authorised handlers, stop-work triggers, release sites and incident reporting.

Stage works so that occupied habitat is retained until the ecologist has completed the relevant pre-clearance checks and any approved fauna management actions.

Before habitat disturbance: Site preparation

Complete a pre-clearance search of all vegetation, rocks, root mats, leaf litter and other cover within the disturbance footprint.

Mark retained habitat, no-go areas, rock refuges, tree splits, dense root mats and access routes before machinery arrives.

Install exclusion fencing where it can safely direct animals away from the work area without trapping them or blocking movement to retained habitat.

Brief all machinery operators and crew on the species’ appearance, shelter sites, reporting pathway and the requirement to stop when a skink or suspected refuge is found.

Adult female mean snout to vent length: 62 millimetres

Hatchling snout to vent length: 30 millimetres

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls

Keep an authorised fauna spotter catcher present whenever habitat is being disturbed. Use slow, staged clearing and protect refuge features until they have been checked and cleared by the responsible ecologist.

Inspect exclusion fencing, access routes, stockpiles, excavations and retained habitat before work starts each day.

Keep cleared vegetation, rocks and soil out of retained root mats, native flax, grass cover and known refuge areas.

Limit open excavations and uncovered material storage to the shortest practical period, and check them for trapped fauna before work resumes.

Prevent food waste, feed and unsecured materials from attracting rats, cats or other predators.

During habitat disturbance: Spotter catcher and machinery

The fauna spotter catcher must stand where the work face, ground surface and material being moved can be seen safely.

Use staged removal of vegetation and cover, with machinery stopping while the spotter catcher checks each section.

Do not lift, roll or stockpile rocks, logs or root-mat material until the spotter catcher has inspected them where practicable.

Keep the spotter catcher’s stop signal clear to every operator and supervisor, and record any period when the spotter catcher is absent.

During habitat disturbance: If a skink is found

Stop work immediately around the animal and keep people, vehicles and machinery clear.

Do not handle the skink unless the person is authorised under the applicable permit, approval and fauna management plan.

Allow the animal to move into nearby retained habitat where this can occur safely and without driving it into the work area.

If capture is authorised, place the skink only in a suitable secure container and release it into nearby retained habitat selected by the ecologist.

Do not move the animal to another island or distant site unless that action has been specifically approved.

Send injured animals to an appropriately qualified veterinarian or authorised wildlife carer, following the applicable wildlife handling requirements.

During habitat disturbance: Stop work and records

Stop work if a skink is detected, if an unsearched refuge is exposed, if exclusion fencing fails, or if machinery cannot maintain the agreed clearance sequence.

Stop work and notify the project ecologist if rats, cats or another predator is detected in or near occupied habitat.

Record the date, time, exact location, habitat feature, activity, weather, observer, photographs, action taken, release location and outcome for every detection or incident.

Notify the relevant approval authority where an incident exceeds the approved fauna management procedure or causes injury or death.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance checks

Post-clearance work should confirm that retained habitat remains connected and usable, and that project controls have not created new predator, weed or fire risks. Use the recovery objective and site approval conditions to set the monitoring period and reporting schedule.

Inspect the completed disturbance footprint and retained edges for injured, trapped or displaced skinks before demobilisation.

Recheck exposed rocks, tree splits, root mats, leaf litter and temporary stockpile areas after clearing and after heavy machinery leaves.

Remove temporary fencing only when the ecologist confirms that it will no longer prevent safe movement between retained habitat patches.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and maintenance

Monitor retained and rehabilitated habitat using repeat searches designed by the project ecologist, with the same routes, timing and recording method used for baseline surveys where practicable.

Maintain weed control, predator exclusion and quarantine measures for the period required by the approval or fauna management plan.

Inspect areas affected by fire, drying conditions, erosion or loss of soil moisture and record changes in shelter and foraging habitat.

Use confirmed detections, habitat condition and any mortality or injury records to adjust site controls.

After habitat disturbance: Reporting and offsets

Submit survey, incident, handling, relocation and monitoring records to the relevant state or territory wildlife database and approval authority where required.

Report whether the project avoided and retained mapped habitat, including dense root mats, native flax, grass, rocks, tree splits and wooded gullies.

Apply any approved offset, compensatory habitat or translocation measure exactly as required by the EPBC approval, state approval or recovery plan decision.

Do not claim a population benefit from rehabilitation until the agreed monitoring period shows the required habitat and occupancy outcomes.

Recovery objective in the supplied plan: Increase area of occupancy by at least 10% by 2034

Estimated population in 2023: 7,000

Rehabilitation actions: Rebuild habitat structure

Rehabilitation should recreate the shelter and foraging conditions used by this skink, not just replant cleared ground. Prioritise dense ground cover, root mats, leaf litter and stable rock and tree refuge features, with measures that reduce weeds, predators and fire risk.

Replant locally appropriate native grass, native flax and Moo-oo where these communities suit the site and approval conditions.

Restore dense root mats and continuous ground cover rather than leaving large areas of bare soil.

Retain or reinstate stable rocks and other natural cover where they occur, and replace them so they do not create unsafe voids or trap fauna.

Retain suitable tree splits and mature trees where safe; do not install nest boxes as a substitute for the skink’s documented rock, root-mat and tree-split refuges unless a qualified ecologist has established a species-specific need.

Rehabilitation actions: Weeds, predators and fire

Continue weed control so weed invasion does not replace native ground cover or alter refuge and foraging areas.

Maintain quarantine measures for soil, machinery, plants and materials entering occupied or restored habitat.

Control rats and cats in accordance with the island authority’s approved programme, because the recovery plan identifies introduced predators as a risk and identifies predator control as a condition for any future establishment on Norfolk Island.

Manage fuel and fire risk in accordance with the approved fire plan, while retaining the vegetation and root-mat structure needed by the skink.

Rehabilitation actions: Monitoring success

Set rehabilitation targets for survival of native plantings, recovery of dense root mats, retention of rock and tree-split refuges, weed cover, predator detections and skink detections.

Repeat searches in rehabilitated areas and nearby retained habitat at the timing and frequency set by the project ecologist and approval conditions.

Compare results with the pre-clearance habitat map and baseline records, and repair failed plantings, eroded ground, damaged refuges or broken exclusion measures.

Use the recovery plan’s area-of-occupancy objective as a broader conservation reference, while measuring the project against its own approved rehabilitation commitments.

Reported higher-density habitat: Areas with dense root mats, especially among Moo-oo and native flax

Broader recovery target: Increase area of occupancy by at least 10% by 2034

Sources