Tree Skink

Open encyclopedia reference

The tree-crevice skink or tree skink (Egernia striolata) is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Australia and is found in the states of Victoria, the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia. E. striolata tend to live in crevices and cracks in hollow logs or rocks. They greatly prefer heterogeneous and structurally diverse habitats and their behavior changes depending on the habitat they live in. They are moderately large lizards of the genus Egernia and are generally colored dark-black to grey-brown with a pale stripe going from their head to their tail. They grow to be around 100–118 mm long and can live for up to ten years. Their primary diet consists of larger, hard-bodied insects. Snakes, birds, and mammals are their major predators. They are well known for their complex social interactions and their ability to flexibly adjust their behavior depending on environmental factors. They generally live in small nuclear family groups of 2-10 individuals, made up of parents and their offspring.

Wikipedia contributors, Tree-crevice skink; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:07:26.630735+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Egernia striolata (Peters, 1870)

Name authority

(Peters, 1870)

Common name

Tree Skink

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Squamata

Family

Scincidae

Genus

Egernia

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. subfamilyEgerniinae
13. genusEgernia
14. speciesEgernia striolata (Peters, 1870)

Close classified relatives

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

Browse 1,330 records assigned to Scincidae.

Names & synonyms

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

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.

1. https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Egernia&species=striolata 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:6DWYD. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.