IUCN COMMISSION GROUP

IUCN SSC Skink Specialist Group

Overview and description

Description:: Skinks (Family Scincidae) are not only the most diverse lizard group but are also one of the world’s most species - rich families of terrestrial vertebrates. With ~1,730 described species, skinks have ...
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Skinks (Family Scincidae) are not only the most diverse lizard group but are also one of the world’s most species - rich families of terrestrial vertebrates. With ~1,730 described species, skinks have a global distribution, with diversity hotspots in Australasia, Asia, and Africa. The IUCN SSC Skink Specialist Group (SSG) is a global network of skink biologists and conservation managers that aims to complete Red List assessments for all skink species worldwide to identify species with high extinction risk and determine the factors underlying high extinction risk.

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Group leadership

Dr David Chapple

Chair

Prof Shai MEIRI

Red List Authority Coordinator

BSc and PhD at Tel Aviv University, postdoc at Imperial College, London

More about the Specialist Group

The core roles and aims of the SSG are to:

Complete Red List assessments for all described skink species to identify species with high extinction risk;
Co-ordinate conservation management for threatened skink species worldwide;
Foster collaborative research on skinks, including studies of the factors influencing their extinction risk;
Promote research on Threatened and Data Deficient skink species;
Initiate and facilitate communication and ...

MISSION

The IUCN SSC Skink Specialist Group aims to complete Red List assessments for all skink species to identify species with high extinction risk, determine the factors underlying high extinction risk, develop strategies to manage risk, and improve the status of threatened skink species, and co-ordinate conservation management for threatened skink species.

Specialist Group work

The SSG is responsible for developing strategies to manage extinction risk and improve the status of threatened skink species, and co-ordinating conservation management for threatened skink species.

Understanding threats to skinks

By the end of 2024, we anticipate having assessed all remaining non-assessed species, coordinating the re-assessment of species as their assessments expire, and coordinating the assessment of newly described species.

SSG on the IUCN Red List

As a speciose group with a cosmopolitan distribution, a suite of conservation issues threaten the group (e.g. habitat loss, invasive species, climate change). Given this global distribution of skinks, the SSG plans to work directly with the government, non-government, and the corporate sector across the world to achieve positive conservation outcomes. At present, one of the primary challenges that the SSG faces is a lack of knowledge, in terms of the true species diversity that exists, and of the biology, ecology, distribution and conservation status of species.