Herps in the News: three-toed skink (Saiphos equalis)

When I was looking through the news in search of something interesting about herps I kept coming across the three-toed skink, scientifically known as Saiphos equalis. Normally I would never use Vice as a credible new source; however, multiple news articles seemed to report the same findings, and the Vice news article in particle touched upon things that are relevant to this class! The news article discussed how researchers at the University of Sydney have just observed a three-toed skink lay eggs and give birth from the same pregnancy. I thought it was interesting how this is apparently the first time this has been seen in babies from the same litter in a vertebrate species. The article specifically touched upon how this observation could suggest that the species is undergoing an evolutionary shift. The three-toed skink is a bimodally reproductive species, which means that some populations are viviparous and others are oviparous. The reason that I liked this article in particular was that it talked about possible facultative oviparity. Currently, the skink, which is native to eastern Australia, is oviparous in some areas of Australia and viviparous in colder climates. Which leads to the discussion of the cold climate hypothesis. Overall, I think the author Becky Ferreira did a really good job on reporting this topic. She included scientific terms, which elevated the reading, but also explained the subject in a way that could be understood by most anyone. I do not think there is too much bias from the author as she writes a multitude of scientific related articles on Vice, so it simply appears that that she just wants to inform the audience of interesting things going on in science!! As far as the audience goes I feel as though the overall purpose is to promote science to a younger generation as that is Vice's target audience. I do not think the article is unreliable as she reached out to Dr. Whittington, a researcher at the University of Sydney. I think this will be an important species to watch as years progress in order to get even more insight into viviparity and oviparity!

https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/884j7g/this-lizard-is-in-the-middle-of-a-wild-evolutionary-transition-scientists-believe