Biology of Skinks of the Genus Lampropholis

Shelley Burgin, Harold Heatwole

• Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN: 9781486319480
• eBook ISBN: 9781486319503
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Physiology
• Index: Biological Sciences

This book provides the first detailed summary of the biology of the genus Lampropholis, also known as Garden Skinks, Grass Skinks, Litter Skinks, Penny Lizards, and Sunskinks.

This genus, an Australian endemic, includes two common, widespread species (one of which has been inadvertently introduced into Hawaii, New Zealand, and Lord Howe Island) and a group of satellite species with restricted geographic distributions. Much information about these lizards resides in obscure articles and unpublished theses. This book integrates those scattered data, providing the first comprehensive account of all aspects of the biology of the genus, including its life history, distribution, dispersal, ecology, behaviour, thermal biology, physiology, diet, predators, parasites and diseases, population biology, genetics, threats and conservation, taxonomy, phylogeny, and evolution.

This volume is essential reading for biologists in general and especially herpetologists, conservationists, naturalists, park rangers, managers of natural resources and wildlife, policy-makers involved with conservation, and anyone with an interest in Australian wildlife.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Dedication
• Preface
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Distribution
• 3 Lampropholis delicata: An invasive stowaway
• 4 Behaviour
• 5 Natural history and life cycles
• 6 Thermal biology
• 7 Physiology
• 8 What’s on the menu? The diet of Lampropholis
• 9 Predation on Lampropholis
• 10 Parasites and pathogens
• 11 Population biology and the ecological niche
• 12 Threats and conservation
• 13 Genetics
• 14 Taxonomic and evolutionary history
• 15 Lampropholis: An emerging model taxon
• 16 Where are we now and where do we go from here?
• Colour plates
• Appendix 1 (to Preface). Scientific names and contrived ‘common’ names of lizards of the genus Lampropholis.
• Appendix 2 (to Preface). Results of a survey in early to mid-2022 of the perceived common names in Sydney and Armidale, NSW, for species of Lampropholis
• Appendix 3 (for Chapter 2). Occurrence of Lampropholis delicata and Lampropholis guichenoti in faunal surveys conducted within the general geographic range of both species
• Appendix 4 (for Chapter 8). Taxonomic classification of the known prey of Lampropholis delicata and Lampropholis guichenoti
• Index