Also called the prehensile-tailed or monkey-tailed skink, Corucia breaks most of the skink rules. It lives in trees, is active mostly at night and dusk, eats only plants, and wraps its long tail around branches like a fifth limb. It is the only living member of its genus.
Its family life is unusual too. Groups made up of adults and young, sometimes called a circulus, share the same trees. Females give birth to one (occasionally two) large young after a pregnancy of six to eight months, and the young may stay with the group for six to twelve months.
Heavy export for the pet trade and local hunting for food have affected wild populations, and the species is listed on CITES Appendix II. Extensive logging is a serious threat.
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