New Species “Cobble Skink” Turns up Outside of New Zealand Pub

The Cobble Skink was discovered in 2007 but was discovered to be threatened by invasive species and climate change. Conservationists are stepping in to protect them.

Imagine stepping outside of your local pub and discovering a species that no one knew existed. This is exactly what happened to reptile expert Tony Jewell in 2007 when he spotted a small skink hiding in the cobblestones while walking out of a pub in Granity, New Zealand.

The “Cobble Skink” as it has been nicknamed is endemic to Granity and lives amongst the rocks that cover the beach. Researchers believe that the skink’s distinctive, large eyes help it maneuver through the dark crevices of the cobblestone beach. Unfortunately, these adaptations have not helped the skink avoid predation by invasive -read more

here is some more information as supplied by cindy fairhall -I used to live up the hill from Granity, where the "cobble skink" was discovered. This was in the mid 1980s and there was talk of skinks, weasels and stoats but I can't say I've heard of the "cobble" form. For those that don't know or are interested, Granity is a tiny village,perhaps these days with a population of less than 100 individuals. It sports one pub, and a bunch of houses that follow the main highway and it backs onto the Tasman Sea. The beach is extremely stony, covered in boulders that average the size of two fists roughly. I think they're made of greywacke and are prized in suburban gardens. As you walk up the hill towards MIllerton (where my friends and I lived), at night you will see glow worms doing their thing in the bush. Past Millerton is a township called Stockton. It's been pretty much destroyed through open coast coal mining. It is here that the worlds largest snails existed in a really small area and were "rescued" and put into "safe storage" whilst a decision was made on where the best place to relocate them would be. Unfortunately, for these cool and very rare creatures, someone turned the electricity off, and they all died. The coolest thing about these very cool snails, is they carried their shells on their sides. Like a disc, rather than upright. The shell was about 4cm in diameter, IIRC.