Hardy's skink (Oligosoma hardyi ) is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to the Poor Knights Islands of New Zealand.
The specific name, hardyi, is in honor of Kiwiherpetologist Graham S. Hardy.
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
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starts withO. hardyi can be distinguished from all other Oligosoma species, including the other members of the O. aeneum species complex, by having suboculars three and four separated by the fifth supralabial under the eye. In addition, the midbody scale count is greater than that of the slight skink (Oligosoma levidensum ) from the Te Paki region.
In the Poor Knights Islands, O. hardyi occurs on Tawhiti Rahi Island, Aorangi Island, Aorangaia Island, Archway Island, and two rock stacks (Stack “B,” Stack “C”).
O. hardyi is most commonly found in areas where there is ground cover near flax and scrub habitat. It is crepuscular, seeking refuge during the day under stones or thick vegetation.