Summary
Nine species of lizard may be found in urban environments in the lower North Island.
Common skink
Some more threatened species are found only on mammal-free offshore islands, such as Kapiti, Mana and Matiu/Somes.
Common skinks are often abundant in coastal locations where they are often a dark or black colour. In other places they are brown with irregular stripes. They can be distinguished from the similar brown skink by their straw coloured iris (brown skinks have a brown iris). Common skinks are not threatened.