{"id":6448,"date":"2023-12-06T10:49:56","date_gmt":"2023-12-05T21:49:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/?page_id=6448"},"modified":"2025-10-03T11:07:53","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T22:07:53","slug":"kapitiaskink-climb","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/index.php\/perspectives-in-biodiversity\/volumes\/2024-1\/kapitiaskink-climb\/","title":{"rendered":"Perspectives in Biodiversity | 2024 | Volume 2 | pp 11\u201320"},"content":{"rendered":"<nav class=\"is-responsive wp-block-navigation is-layout-flex wp-block-navigation-is-layout-flex\" aria-label=\"Perspectives in Biodiversity\" \n\t\t data-wp-interactive=\"core\/navigation\" data-wp-context='{\"overlayOpenedBy\":{\"click\":false,\"hover\":false,\"focus\":false},\"type\":\"overlay\",\"roleAttribute\":\"\",\"ariaLabel\":\"Menu\"}'><button aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-label=\"Open menu\" class=\"wp-block-navigation__responsive-container-open\" 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rel=\"https:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/index.php\/perspectives-in-animal-health-and-welfare\/author-guidelines\/\" title=\"Author Guidelines\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Author Guidelines |<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\" wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/index.php\/perspectives-in-biodiversity\/volumes\/\" rel=\"https:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/index.php\/perspectives-in-biodiversity\/volumes\/\" title=\"Issues\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Articles |<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\" wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/index.php\/perspectives-in-biodiversity\/editorial-board\/\" rel=\"https:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/index.php\/perspectives-in-biodiversity\/editorial-board\/\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Contact Us <\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/nav>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Short Communication<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/index.php\/perspectives-in-biodiversity\/volumes\/2024-1\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"6451\">Volume 2<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Arboreal behaviour and habitat use in the Nationally Critical Kapitia skink (<em>Oligosoma salmo<\/em>)<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>Marcel Kerrigan<sup>1<\/sup>, Sarah Brill<sup>2<\/sup>, <a href=\"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0389-4807\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0389-4807\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" class=\"wp-image-5587\" style=\"width: 20px;\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image.png\" alt=\"\"><\/a> Marleen Baling<sup>1, *<\/sup><br><br>Affiliations:<br>1 School of Environmental and Animal Sciences, Unitec, Private Bag 92025, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.<br>2 Auckland Zoo, Private Bag 78700, Grey Lynn, Auckland 1245, New Zealand.<br>* corresponding author: <a href=\"mailto:m.baling@gmail.com\">m.baling@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Received: 06 June 2023 | Accepted: 02 December 2023 | Published: 06 May 2024<br>Associate Editor: Luis Ortiz Catedral<br><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.34074\/pibdiv.002103\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.34074\/pibdiv.002103<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/PBD-Kerrigan-et-al-2024.pdf\" data-type=\"attachment\" data-id=\"6702\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Download PDF<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Abstract<\/strong>:<br>The Kapitia skink (<em>Oligosoma salmo<\/em>) is only found on the west coast of the South Island, New Zealand. This critically endangered skink has a moderately prehensile tail that would be expected to contribute to an ability to climb as part of its natural history. However, its current only habitat, a highly modified pasture, lacks vegetation or natural structures that would promote arboreal behaviour. We conducted a pilot study investigating the behavioural activity of a captive, wild-born Kapitia skink at Auckland Zoo in 2020. Over 13 days (24 hours\/day) of focal sampling climbing behaviour was observed for the first time in this species (8%, n=58\/703 mins). The skink was most active in the middle of the day, especially in fine, sunny weather. We suggest further investigations into the range of habitat use for this species. This study supports the importance of exploring potential habitat types beyond what we typically assume as the ideal habitat type (based on its source location) for an organism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><strong>Cite as<\/strong><br>Kerrigan, M., Brill. S., Baling, M. (2024). Arboreal behaviour and habitat use in the Nationally Critical Kapitia skink (<em>Oligosoma salmo<\/em>). <em>Perspectives in Biodiversity<\/em>, 2(1): 11\u201320. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.34074\/pibdiv.002103\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.34074\/pibdiv.002103<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Short Communication Volume 2 Arboreal behaviour and habitat use in the Nationally Critical Kapitia skink (Oligosoma salmo) Marcel Kerrigan1, Sarah Brill2, Marleen Baling1, * Affiliations:1 School of Environmental and Animal Sciences, Unitec, Private Bag 92025, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142,&#8230; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/index.php\/perspectives-in-biodiversity\/volumes\/2024-1\/kapitiaskink-climb\/\">Continue Reading &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"parent":6451,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6448","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6448"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7548,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6448\/revisions\/7548"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitec.ac.nz\/epress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}