South-eastern Morethia Skink
S1, dorsal
Ellura
South-eastern Morethia Skink
S1, profile
 
                      
South-eastern Morethia Skink (Morethia boulengeri)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Chordates (Chordata) - Reptiles (Reptilia)
Order: Scaled Reptiles (Squamata)
Family: Skink (Scincidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: South-eastern Morethia Skink (Morethia boulengeri)
This Photo:     🔍S2, Male, dorsal🔎
Other names: Boulenger's Skink, Common Snake-eye or Firetail Skink

Thank you Stephen Fricker, Stephen Mahony & Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA), the Flinders Ranges and elsewhere
The 1st specimen we found was small at ~44mm SVL. Weighting ~1.6gm
The eybrow shot shows the single supraciliary scales interlocking; as opposed to 2 for M. obscura.
With S2 & S3 you can see the strong red throat colour of the male in breeding colours.

Copyright © 2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 09-Sep-2024
This species is classed as LC (Least Concern) in the Murray Mallee, SA, by DENR (Regional Species Status Assessments, July 2010)