Burrowing skink is reptilian world’s master builder
May 16th, 2011 - 4:29 pm ICT by IANSSydney, May 16 (IANS) Researchers have stumbled upon a community of reptilian master builders which has been constructing elaborate underground structures, creating a veritable city and a complex society.
The Great Desert Burrowing Skink that lives on the sandy plains of central Australia has been discovered living in unique family groups within a labyrinth of constructed tunnel complexes by Macquarie University researchers Steve McAlpin, Paul Duckett and Adam Stow.
“For adults to invest so much in a home within which kids mature, it makes evolutionary sense that these adult individuals are sure that they are providing for their own offspring,” said Adam Stow.
This work carried out at Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park has revealed that these social lizards invest in a long-term housing structure that benefits them, their offspring or siblings, which is unprecedented in a lizard, according to a Macquarie University statement.
The team has found that family members contribute the construction and maintenance of burrow systems that can have up to 20 entrances, extend over 13 metres, and even have their own specifically located latrines.
The faithful nature of adult pairs, which were found to breed together over consecutive years, is likely to be essential for this family cohesion.
From over 5,000 species of lizards worldwide no other has been found to cooperate to construct a long-term home for their family members.
The shared home can be continuously occupied for up to seven years, with multiple generations participating in construction and maintenance of burrows.
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Tags: adult individuals, burrow, central australia, complex society, duckett, evolutionary sense, family cohesion, family groups, great desert, kata tjuta national park, lizards, macquarie university, sandy plains, skink, species of lizards, steve mcalpin, uluru, uluru kata tjuta national park, underground structures, unique family