Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Recently, a tsunami had hit the Solomon Islands. Does anyone on this forum know how detrimental this may be to the PT Skink(Corucia sp.)?

LEEWAY CORUCIA RESEARCH CENTER (LCRC)

Hello,

Yes, this is a sad moment in time to a already very stressed ecosystem. However, Corucia are a high canopy arboreal species with a SENI value Of .17 (Schnirel, 2004.) At that height, it is doubtful that any still existing WC Corucia would be adversely effected. If they descended to near ground level to eat fruit such as the largely herbivorous Luzon Tree Monitor (Varanus olivaceus), then destruction at a lower level would have more detriment to Corucia survival. But Corucia appear to spend most of their time higher up in the canopy. If a Typhoon were to hit instead, It would stand to reason that Corucia would be more adversely affected by the winds at the higher altitude. I'm not saying that 100% Corucia could not have been affected by the latest Solomon archipelago disaster. I would tend to think that this was a largely ground level disaster. As such, Corucia zebrata should not have been affected extensively. We can only hope. I share your concern and passion for Corucia. Thank you for caring.

Sincerely,
Brian L. Schnirel
LCRC

Brian,

Thanks for the informed reply. Good to hear that this won't have too much of an effect on the Corucia wc population.

I wasn't too successful at finding the herpetological species- listing of the Solomon Islands. Hopefully, this tsunami wasn't too detrimental on other lower-canopy to ground dwelling species (including all other lifeforms indigenous to the area).

Leeway Corucia Research Center (LCRC)

Hello Lizardman,

I commend you on your diligent efforts to find any info on any detrimental effects on the rest of the Solomon wildlife that may have been affected.

Funding has always been a problem. I would love to see a combined effort to put forward a research team to go to the Solomons, Bougainville, and Buka to study Corucia in their native habitat. Despite our best efforts, it's often a shot in the dark because so much is lacking of their natural environmental habits.
In my case, being trained as a paleontologist, it can be a little easier to take pieces of a puzzle and put together the whole picture. But other times it is not not. To fully do right by Corucia, we need more pieces of the puzzle. Perhaps, you, and others can go where noone has gone before.

Sincerely,
Brian
LCRC