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Fiordland Skink

Oligosoma acrinasum (Hardy, 1977)

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Distribution map of Oligosoma acrinasum.

Distribution map of Oligosoma acrinasum.

Michal Klajban · CC BY 4.0 · Image source

Provider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.

Open encyclopedia reference

The Fiordland skink (Oligosoma acrinasum) is a species of skink endemic to the Fiordland temperate forests ecoregion of South Island, New Zealand. The Fiordland skink is found on one mainland locations and the exposed rocky shores of numerous islands along the Fiordland coast. Their distribution has declined due to introduced predators. Currently it lives only on foreshore rocks and boulder beaches on the Fiordland coast. It is abundant, even extremely abundant, in areas free from mammalian predators, but it barely survives where predators are present.

This species was successfully translocated to Hāwea Island in 1988. It has managed to naturally recolonize another island after rats were eradicated.

Wikipedia contributors, Fiordland skink; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:47:34.674390+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Oligosoma acrinasum (Hardy, 1977)
Name authority
(Hardy, 1977)
Common name
Fiordland Skink
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Reptilia
Order
Squamata
Family
Scincidae
Genus
Oligosoma
Extinction status
Not supplied by this source

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. megaclassTetrapoda
  8. classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
  9. orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
  10. suborderAutarchoglossa
  11. familyScincidae
  12. subfamilyEugongylinae
  13. genusOligosoma
  14. speciesOligosoma acrinasum (Hardy, 1977)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Oligosoma. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Grand SkinkOligosoma grande (Gray, 1845)ScincidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Hardy’s SkinkOligosoma hardyi (Chapple, Patterson, Bell & Daugherty, 2008)ScincidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Slight SkinkOligosoma levidensum (Chapple, Patterson, Bell & Daugherty, 2008)ScincidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Canterbury spotted skinkOligosoma lineoocellatum (Duméril, 1851)ScincidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
MacGregor's SkinkOligosoma macgregori (Robb, 1975)ScincidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Oligosoma nigriplantare (Peters, 1874)ScincidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Oligosoma northlandi (Worthy, 1991)ScincidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Otago SkinkOligosoma otagense (Mccann, 1955)ScincidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Sinbad skinkOligosoma pikitanga Bell & Patterson, 2008ScincidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Southern grass skinkOligosoma polychroma (Patterson & Daugherty, 1990)ScincidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Eyres skinkOligosoma repens Chapple, Bell, Chapple, Miller, Daugherty & Patterson, 2011ScincidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Aorangi skinkOligosoma roimata Patterson, Hitchmough & Chapple, 2013ScincidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied

Browse 1,330 records assigned to Scincidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Recorded nameSource status
Leiolopisma acrinasum Hardy, 1977 Hardy, 1977synonym

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

New Zealand (Breaksea Sound, Fjordland)

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

  1. https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Oligosoma&species=acrinasum Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4976T. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.