Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
NarrativeWikipediaarticle
Traits & measurements2 literature sources7 traits
Occurrence & distributionGBIF5 805 records
Genome at a glanceGoaT2n = 32
01Narrative
Cunningham's spiny-tailed skink (Egernia cunninghami), also known commonly as Cunningham's skink, is a species of large skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is native to southeastern Australia.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Egernia cunninghami has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
06Genome at a glanceGoaT
The complete instruction manualEgernia cunninghami carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
Chromosomes2n = 32 n = 16
Chromosome-count records — grouped by value · 2n = full set, n = gamete · click a value for sources & references
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
DNA clock origin8.5 Ma TimeTree
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
DNA clock origin
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type5 805 records
Wild obs. + sensor4 430
Museum / vouchered1 162
Other213
Origin
Native262
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO8 952 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy85% within 1 km
≤100 m 2 499≤1 km 557≤10 km 272>10 km 280
3 608 georeferenced · 822 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor4 430
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy16% within 1 km
≤100 m 75≤1 km 48≤10 km 617>10 km 38
778 georeferenced · 384 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence1 162
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions11 of 19 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Sydney, AU
736
DOI/NPS, Salem Maritime National Historic Sitelocation not on record
128
Museums Victorialocation not on record
118
Natick, US
75
CASlocation not on record
24
Australian National Wildlife Collectionlocation not on record
20
Wuzhou, CN
13
Ann Arbor, US
9
Cambridge, US
8
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territorylocation not on record
5
5
NSW Dept of Planning, Industry and Environmentlocation not on record
4
Western Australian Museumlocation not on record
4
Washington, US
3
Bonn, DE
2
New Haven, US
1
Tacoma, US
1
Texas Memorial Museum, Texas Natural History Collectionlocation not on record
1
Toronto, CA
1
19 institutions · 1 158 of 1 162 vouchered records shown · 4 without an institution code
