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Skinks invade backyards across Australia
ABC NEWS (Australia)
Follow
1/24/2025
Ten years ago, the sight of a six-toothed skink in Darwin would have sent reptile scientists into a frenzy. Now, it seems the Arnhem land species has taken over the city and scientists want the public's help to track its spread.
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00:00
Meet the six-toothed rainbow skink, native to Australia but not to Darwin.
00:09
But over the past ten years, their numbers have boomed.
00:13
These things will wander up onto the back porch looking for food and we watch them from
00:20
our pool eating insects.
00:21
They're normally found in far north Queensland and the far northeast Northern Territory.
00:28
It's most likely brought them further west.
00:30
With the help of decades old specimens from the NT Museum's vast collections, this PhD
00:36
candidate is trying to piece together their spread.
00:39
This species seems to be spreading across Darwin and one of the first things we want
00:43
to do is get a lot of records across the town of where they are and where they aren't.
00:48
Top end residents are the research team's eyes and ears on the ground.
00:51
By recording the skinks you see in your own backyard and uploading them online, you can
00:56
help the researchers understand more about the spread of the six-toothed rainbow skink
01:01
in the top end.
01:02
Yeah, I'd be really interested in knowing what suburbs they occur in.
01:05
Should we go have a look around here?
01:06
Yeah, let's do it.
01:07
There's one.
01:08
There's one right there.
01:09
Get him.
01:10
Got him.
01:11
Six-toothed rainbow skink.
01:12
Very pretty lizard but they're not meant to be here.
01:22
A lot larger than local skinks, they're easy to spot at home, but unlike notorious Australian
01:28
invaders like the cane toad, they're not necessarily problematic.
01:32
I certainly wouldn't encourage people to do anything about them.
01:38
At the moment they're just delightful little lizards in people's backyard.
01:44
Enjoy them while they're here.
01:47
Building a clearer picture of a mysterious critter.
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