NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands Skink
Oligosoma lichenigerum (O'Shaughnessy, 1874)
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Lord Howe Island skink (Oligosoma lichenigerum) is a part of the native Australian reptiles' classification. The Lord Howe Island Skink is a species of skink in the family Scincidae, located on Australia's Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island. The Lord Howe Island skink population is uncommon to be found on Lord Howe island, however the majority of their population is located on the Norfolk Island complex.This skink is metallic bronze in colour and has flecks for defining features. It can grow up to 8 cm in length, making them medium in size. Its taxonomy is diverse, the skink is a part of the Scincidae family, Oligosoma genus. This skink population is protected and considered vulnerable under the Environment Protection and biodiversity conservation act 1999.
Wikipedia contributors, Lord Howe Island skink; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T13:23:26.768069+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Oligosoma lichenigerum (O'Shaughnessy, 1874)
- Name authority
- (O'Shaughnessy, 1874)
- Common name
- Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderAutarchoglossa
- familyScincidae
- subfamilyEugongylinae
- genusOligosoma
- speciesOligosoma lichenigerum (O'Shaughnessy, 1874)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Oligosoma. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Fiordland SkinkOligosoma acrinasum (Hardy, 1977) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Grand SkinkOligosoma grande (Gray, 1845) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hardy’s SkinkOligosoma hardyi (Chapple, Patterson, Bell & Daugherty, 2008) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Slight SkinkOligosoma levidensum (Chapple, Patterson, Bell & Daugherty, 2008) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Canterbury spotted skinkOligosoma lineoocellatum (Duméril, 1851) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| MacGregor's SkinkOligosoma macgregori (Robb, 1975) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Oligosoma nigriplantare (Peters, 1874) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Oligosoma northlandi (Worthy, 1991) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Otago SkinkOligosoma otagense (Mccann, 1955) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sinbad skinkOligosoma pikitanga Bell & Patterson, 2008 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Southern grass skinkOligosoma polychroma (Patterson & Daugherty, 1990) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Eyres skinkOligosoma repens Chapple, Bell, Chapple, Miller, Daugherty & Patterson, 2011 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Mocoa lichenigera O'Shaughnessy, 1874 O'Shaughnessy, 1874 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
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.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Oligosoma&species=lichenigerum 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:4977F. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.