Prehistoric Period

Because it is a relatively new evolutionary development, the common garden skink, Lampropholis guichenoti, did not exist during the ancient era. The fossil record provides light on the evolutionary past of many lizard species, but the particular clade that gave rise to the modern garden skink probably wasn't there in the distant past.

Species of lizards have changed and adapted over the course of millions of years in response to shifting habitats and other factors. There are a plethora of lizard species that evolved from far earlier forms, as shown by fossils of these reptiles.

But precise genetic and fossil data can be hard to come by, so we don't know when the common garden skink first appeared in the evolutionary chronology.

Adapting to their own ecological niches, several lizard species lived throughout ancient times. Changes in the environment, selection pressures, and the emergence of new habitat types probably pushed the evolution of some species, such the common garden skink, to take place at a later time.

Keep in mind that the common garden skink is only one more modern species that evolved from something far older. The variety of life has been shaped over eons by evolution, a process that is both dynamic and ongoing.

Amidst the vast tapestry of Earth's life history, the appearance of the common garden skink stands as a monument to the complex and intriguing process of evolutionary adaptation.