Acontias meleagris

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Acontias meleagris
Acontias meleagris - 1700-1880 - Print - Iconographia Zoologica - Special Collections University of Amsterdam - UBA01 IZ12600063.tif
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Acontias
Species:
A. meleagris
Binomial name
Acontias meleagris

Acontias meleagris, or the Cape legless skink, is a species of skink found in the southern Cape of South Africa. It has no limbs, like most members of the subfamily Acontinae. [2]

Contents

Description

Its slender, tube-shaped body is golden-brown with tiny black spots. These spots fuse into longitudinal stripes in some specimens.[ citation needed ]

Distribution

Found in the southern Cape of South Africa, It is usually found burrowing in dry sand as well as beneath boulders, dead trees and other detritus. It gives birth to two to four young in summer. [ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<i>Acontias</i> Genus of lizards

Acontias is a genus of limbless skinks, the lance skinks, in the African subfamily Acontinae. Most are small animals, but the largest member of the genus is Acontias plumbeus at approximately 40 cm (16 in) snout-vent length. All members of this genus are live-bearing sandswimmers, with fused eyelids. A recent review moved species that were formerly placed in the genera Typhlosaurus, Acontophiops, and Microacontias into this genus, as together these form a single branch in the tree of life. This new concept of Acontias is a sister lineage to Typhlosaurus, and these two genera are the only genera within the subfamily Acontinae.

<i>Typhlosaurus</i> Genus of lizards

Typhlosaurus is a genus of African lizards, one of a number of genera of limbless lizards in the skink family (Scincidae). This group was recently revised with most species formerly attributed to Typhlosaurus now placed in Acontias. The current definition of Typhlosaurus includes five attenuate body legless lizards from southwestern Africa. This is the sister genus to Acontias, which together form the well supported Afrotropical subfamily Acontinae.

<i>Acontias breviceps</i> Species of lizard

Acontias breviceps, the shorthead lance skink or shortheaded legless skink, is a species of viviparous, legless, fossorial lizards occurring along the southern and eastern sections of the Great Escarpment in South Africa. It may grow up to 10 cm long.

<i>Acontias percivali</i> Species of lizard

Acontias percivali, also known commonly as Percival's lance skink, Percival's legless lizard, and the Tanzanian legless lizard, is a species of small, legless (snake-like) lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legless lizard</span> Common name for a lizard without obvious legs

Legless lizard may refer to any of several groups of lizards that have independently lost limbs or reduced them to the point of being of no use in locomotion. It is the common name for the family Pygopodidae. These lizards are often distinguishable from snakes on the basis of one or more of the following characteristics: possessing eyelids, possessing external ear openings, lack of broad belly scales, notched rather than forked tongue, having two more-or-less-equal lungs, and/or having a very long tail. Every stage of reduction of the shoulder girdle —including complete loss— occurs among limbless squamates, but the pelvic girdle is never completely lost regardless of the degree of limb reduction or loss. At least the ilium is retained in limbless lizards and most basal snakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodbush legless skink</span> Species of lizard

The woodbush legless skink is a species of legless skink. It is found in the Wolkberg mountains of Limpopo Province, South Africa. Females of the species give birth to live young. This lizard species was formerly placed in a monotypic genus as Acontophiops lineatus. Morphologically the genus shows similarities to Acontias cregoi and a recent review placed both of these within the genus Acontias, which, as Acontias lineatus was already occupied, required a new name for this species.

Kasner's dwarf burrowing skink, also known commonly as Kasner's burrowing skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lygosominae</span> Subfamily of lizards

Lygosominae is the largest subfamily of skinks in the family Scincidae. The subfamily can be divided into a number of genus groups. If the rarely used taxonomic rank of infrafamily is employed, the genus groups would be designated as such, but such a move would require a formal description according to the ICZN standards.

<i>Acontias gracilicauda</i> Species of lizard

Acontias gracilicauda, the slendertail lance skink or thin-tailed legless skink, is a species of skink. It is found in the Republic of South Africa and Lesotho. Acontias namaquensis was formerly included in this species as a subspecies, but is now recognized as a distinct species.

Acontias albigularis, the white-throated legless skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. It is endemic to South Africa, where it is found under flat rocks on the montane grasslands and shrublands of the Mpumalanga escarpment. The species was originally regarded as a population of the shorthead lance skink.

Acontias aurantiacus, the golden blind legless skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. It is found in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, and South Africa.

<i>Acontias cregoi</i> Species of lizard

Acontias cregoi, commonly known as Cregoe's legless skink, Cregoi's blind legless skink, and Cregoi's legless skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to South Africa.

Acontias fitzsimonsi, Fitzsimons' legless skink or Fitzsimon's legless skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. It is endemic to South Africa.

Acontias namaquensis, the Namaqua legless skink or Namaqua lance skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. It is endemic to Little Namaqualand, Northern Cape, South Africa.

<i>Acontias orientalis</i> Species of lizard

Acontias orientalis, the Eastern striped blindworm or Eastern Cape legless skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. It is endemic to South Africa.

<i>Acontias plumbeus</i> Species of lizard

Acontias plumbeus, the giant legless skink or giant lance skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. It is found in South Africa, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.

<i>Acontias richardi</i> Species of lizard

Acontias richardi, Richard's legless skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. It is endemic to South Africa.

Acontias wakkerstroomensis, the Wakkerstroom legless skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. It is endemic to South Africa.

Haacke's legless skink, also known commonly as Brain's legless skink and Brain's blind legless skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Namibia.

<i>Acontias mukwando</i> Species of lizard

Acontias mukwando, the Serra da Neve lance-skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. It is only known to exist in Serra da Neve in the Angolan Namibe province. The species was first documented by Mariana P. Marques, Diogo Parrinha, Arthur Tiutenko, Manuel Lopes-Lima, Aaron M. Bauer & Luis M. P. Ceríaco in 2023.

References

  1. Conradie, W. & Bauer, A.M. (2018). Acontias meleagris. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T44974868A115668762.en
  2. Savel R. Daniels; Neil J. L. Heideman; Martin G. J. Hendricks; Mphalile E. Mokone; Keith A. Crandall (2005). "Unraveling evolutionary lineages in the limbless fossorial skink genus Acontias (Sauria: Scincidae): are subspecies equivalent systematic units?". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 34 (3): 645–654. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.11.011. PMID   15683935.

Further reading