Ecological Feeding Analysis of South-Eastern Australian Scincids (Reptilia, Lacertilia)

Abstract

The gut contents of 936 skinks, representing 15 species resident in south-eastern Australia, were examined. Multicategorisation of food items reveals that a wide variety of plant and invertebrate material is ingested, the proportions and types of which appear to be dependent upon several criteria. All species investigated are opportunistic and widely foraging generalists, although important determinants of food selection appear to be the size of the lizard and its vertical distribution. When the diets of individual species are amalgamated according to suprageneric groups, certain dietary traits emerge. Egernia-group species, which are relatively large, are generally herbivorous, with the degree of herbivory correlated directly to body size. Smaller species of the Leiolopisma (Eugongylus) and Sphenomorphus groups mainly eat insects.