This is because lizards are usually much smaller than birds and mammals, they do not move such large distances, and have smaller home ranges. In terms of habitat fragmentation, this means that the size of a forest fragment which can hold a healthy population of reptiles is likely to be different to that which can hold a healthy population of either birds or mammals. Studies of the effects of fragmentation on reptiles are rare, but since they are known to adapt quickly to environmental change, especially in 'island' systems, they are an ideal candidate for studying changes to shape or size. The two research stories described here are about forest skinks which are abundant in the wet tropics and easy to capture. Therefore, it has been possible to have good sample sizes which are suitable for individual studies.
Skinks are a family of lizards widely distributed across Australia.
They have evolved into many species in the Australian desert and Australia outranks other countries in terms of the number of skink species. Despite this fact the biology of skinks is poorly understood, and very few Australians are even aware of their existence. This is probably due to the fact that they are, for the most part, small, cryptic and often overlooked in favour of larger, more obvious animals. Researching skinks in rainforest fragments Simon Cook is a PhD student who is studying at James Cook University in Townsville. The purpose of his research is to determine the diversity of skink species living in tropical rainforest and the difficulties they might have faced in the long evolutionary path needed to evolve from desert skinks to rainforest skinks.