Olive Tree Skink

Dasia olivacea

Description

This lizard has a body shape that is almost similar to a garden lizard. However, garden lizards live only on soil and rocks. Body length reaches 11.5 cm, if calculated from the tip of the snout to the tip of the tail, reaching 29.2 cm in length. Its back is dark olive brown, with faint black patches and pale green spots that line its back. The head is greenish brown with black spots on the crown area. The eyes are dark brown with bright yellow edges and lids. The underside of the body is whitish green or yellowish. The tail is the same color as the back. Newly hatched lizards are yellowish or reddish brown with black stripes and black limbs.

Population Size

Stable

Life Span

-

WEIGHT​

-

LENGTH

25 cm

Ar

Arboreal

Ca

Carnivore

No

Nocturnal

Classification

KINGDOM

:

Animalia

PHYLUM

:

Chordata

CLASS

:

Reptilia

ORDER

:

Squamata

FAMILY

:

Scincidae

GENUS

:

Dasia

SPECIES

:

Dasia olivacea

Distribution

Geography

Continent : Asia

Country : Dasia olivacea is found to the south about 15 ° north in Southeast Asia, including parts of Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia and Singapore as well as throughout the island of Borneo, in Java, Sumatra and the nearby islands of Indonesia. and India. Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Habits and Lifestyle

Dasia olivacea is active during the day and is usually found in trees, wild plants, or shrubs in forests, garden edges, sometimes also found in yards. This lizard rarely descends to the ground, unless it wants to move to another tree in search of prey. At night, green tree lizards hide among tree trunks, or behind peeling tree bark.

Lifestyle

Arboreal

Biome

Forest

Climate Zone

Tropical

Diet and Nutrition

Its main diet is tree insects and several other arthropods such as spiders.

Diet : Carnivora

Mating Habits

Female lizards can lay as many as 6-14 eggs and these lizards can lay eggs 3-4 times a year. The eggs are laid between rotting litter between the base of trees or wild plants or in tree branching gaps. The newly hatched chicks are 3.2–3.8 cm long

Reproduction session : 3 – 4 times a year

Incubation periods: –

Independent age : at birth

Baby name : –

Baby carrying : 6 – 14 eggs

Population

Population status : Least Concern (LC)

NE

DD

LC

NT

VU

EN

CR

EW

EX

Population threats​

Conversion of forest in southeast Asia into agriculture or mosaic, and degradation to savanna or woodlands results in habitat destruction for the native arboreal species. The annual deforestation rate in southeast Asia has been calculated at 0.91% from 1990-1997, with much higher rates in specific regions (Archard et al. 2002). Central Myanmar, Central Sumatra, and Southern Viet Nam, all regions where this species is present, have experienced annual deforestation rates of ~3.0%, 3.2-5.9% and 1.2-3.2%, respectively (Archard et al. 2002).

Population number​

Dasia olivacea is listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution and tolerance of a variety of habitats, including human affected environments. Despite some habitat loss and degradation, it is unlikely to be declining significantly across its range to qualify for listing in a threatened category. Monitoring is needed for this species to ensure a threat category is not triggered in the future.

PHOTO GALLERY

Reference

  1. Dasia olivacea on Red List IUCN site 
  2. Inger, R.F. & Stuart, B.L. 2010. Dasia olivacea. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T178252A7507427
  3. Dasia olivacea on Wikipedia article
  4. Dasia olivacea on Wikipedia article
  5. Somaweera, R. 2020. A Naturalist’s Guide To The Reptiles and Amphibians of Bali. John Beaufoy Publishing, Oxford, England.