Dasia olivacea, the olive dasia or olive tree skink, is a semi-arboreal species of skink lizard native to Southeast Asia.
| Dasia olivacea | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Scincidae |
| Genus: | Dasia |
| Species: | D. olivacea
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| Binomial name | |
| Dasia olivacea Gray, 1839
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| Synonyms | |
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Distribution edit
Dasia olivacea is found south of approximately 15° north in Southeast Asia, including parts of Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, throughout the island of Borneo (Sarawak, Kalimantan, Brunei), the Indonesian islands of Bali, Java and Sumatra (among others), as well as India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The species is originally known from a single locality in Cambodia. The northernmost extreme for D. olivacea is possibly the Sakaerat Environmental Research Station in the Nakhon Ratchasima Province of eastern Thailand.[2]
Ecology and conservation edit
Dasia olivacea lives almost exclusively in trees, only rarely descending to nest or to move between trees.[1] Eggs may be laid more than once per year, in clutches of up to 14 eggs; incubation lasts 69 days.[1] Because it is very widespread and ecologically flexible, D. olivacea is considered to be a species of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.[1]
Taxonomy edit
Dasia olivacea was first described by John Edward Gray, in a publication of the Annals of Natural History (1839),[1][3] as the type species of the (then) newly-discovered genus Dasia. The type locality was "Prince of Wales Island" (now Penang Island).[1][3]
Description edit
Mature individuals of Dasia olivacea have a green back, with bronze scales towards the flanks and 12 bands of ocelli (eye-like spots) reaching from side to side.[2][3] The head is primarily a dark olive-green colour with black markings; the underside of the head is a bluish to yellowish green.[2]
Further reading edit
- Greer, Allen E. (1970). "The relationships of the skinks referred to the genus Dasia". Breviora. 348: 1–30.
- Grossmann, W. (2002). "Haltung und Zucht des Braunen Baumskinks Dasia grisea (Gray, 1845) und weitere Angaben zur Nachzucht des Olivfarbenen Baumskinks Dasia olivacea Gray, 1839". Sauria. 24 (4): 35–46.
- Inger, Robert F. & Walter C. Brown (1980). "Species of the scincid genus Dasia Gray". Fieldiana Zoology. 3: 1–11. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.3190.
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f Inger, R.F.; Stuart, B.L. (2010). "Dasia olivacea". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T178252A7507427. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T178252A7507427.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ a b c Peter Geissler; Duc Minh Hoang & Truong Quang Nguyen (2011). "First record of Dasia olivacea Gray, 1839 (Squamata: Scincidae) from the mainland of Vietnam" (PDF). Herpetology Notes. 4: 261–262. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-28. Retrieved 2013-09-25.
- ^ a b c John Edward Gray (1839). "Catalogue of the slender-tongued saurians, with descriptions of many new genera and species". Annals of Natural History. 2: 287–293, 331–337.