Copper-tailed Ctenotus

Fascinating facts about the Copper-tailed Ctenotus

• Its coat reads like a painted ribbon: olive brown back, a black vertebral line edged in white, plus a white dorsolateral stripe framed in black, a pattern that breaks up its outline among the speckled heathland floor.
• Living in both rocky outcrops and sandy stretches, the skink basks on sun-heated stones but always keeps a nearby refuge, allowing it to bolt for cover the instant a predator appears.
• The diet of this skink is mainly small invertebrates such as insects and worms.
• The copper-tailed skink lives in open bushland and heath along Australia’s coast.

At a glance

About the Copper-tailed Ctenotus

The copper-tailed ctenotus, Ctenotus taeniolatus, is a medium-sized skink that can grow to about 30 cm long. Its dorsal surface is olive brown with dark brown and white stripes running from head to tail, a black vertebral band edged in white, and a white dorsolateral band edged in black; the sides are dark brown with white spots. It inhabits open bushland and heathland, living in rocky and sandy areas where it basks in sunny spots and retreats to nearby cover. Its diet consists mainly of small invertebrates such as insects and worms.

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