NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Bocourt's Eyelid Skink

Phoboscincus bocourti (Brocchi, 1876)

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 terror skink (Phoboscincus bocourti), also called commonly Bocourt's terrific skink, Bocourt's eyelid skink and Bocourt's skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to the Île des Pins (Isle of Pines), a small islet off the coast of New Caledonia. First described in 1876, the species was presumed to be extinct, but was rediscovered in 1993, and since then several individuals have been seen. Because of its small area of occupation and small population size, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being "critically endangered".

Wikipedia contributors, Terror skink; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:03:40.396304+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name: Phoboscincus bocourti (Brocchi, 1876)
Name authority: (Brocchi, 1876)
Common name: Bocourt's Eyelid Skink
Rank: species
Accepted status: accepted
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Phoboscincus
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
genusPhoboscincus
speciesPhoboscincus bocourti (Brocchi, 1876)

Close classified relatives

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

Species	Classification	Source status
Garnier's SkinksPhoboscincus garnieri (Bavay, 1869)	ScincidaeChordata	Accepted 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 name	Source status
Eumeces bocourti Brocchi, 1876 Brocchi, 1876	synonym

Documented distribution

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

New Caledonia (small islet south of Grande Terre, off Isle of Pines)

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=Phoboscincus&species=bocourti 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:4GK4C. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.