Story: European discovery of plants and animals

Brown skink

Brown skink

The brown skink (Leiolopisma zelandicum) was first collected by the United States Exploring Expedition during a week in the Bay of Islands in 1840. The skink was described by Charles Girard, with this illustration. The report appeared in a volume on reptiles in Charles Wilkes’s Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, during the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841 (published 1848–58).

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Rare English Collection, Special Printed Collections
Reference: Charles Girard, Herpetology. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1858, plate 27, figs 9-16. (SPC 06/715)

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

John Andrews, 'European discovery of plants and animals - Expeditions and surveys: 1830s–1870s', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/artwork/10946/brown-skink (accessed 27 April 2024)

Story by John Andrews, published 24 Sep 2007