Mochlus

Mochlus
Sundevall's writhing skink (Mochlus s. sundevallii ) in the Soutpansberg, South Africa.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Scincidae
Subfamily:	Lygosominae
Genus:	Mochlus Günther, 1864

Mochlus is a genus of lizards in the subfamily Lygosominae of the family Scincidae (skinks). The genus is endemic to Africa.

Description

Skinks of the genus Mochlus are cylindrical in shape and robust. They get the common name "writhing skinks" from the side-to-side movement that they make when held in the hand. ^[1]

Diet

Skinks in the genus Mochlus feed on insects and millipedes. ^[1]

Species

The following 19 species are recognized as being valid. ^[2]

• Mochlus brevicaudis (Greer, Grandison & Barbault, 1985)
• Mochlus fernandi (Burton, 1836) – fire skink
• Mochlus grandisonianus Lanza & Carfi, 1966 – Lanza's writhing skink
• Mochlus guineensis (W. Peters, 1879) – Guinean forest skink
• Mochlus hinkeli Wagner, Böhme, Pauwels & Schmitz, 2009 – Hinkel's red-sided skink, Hinkel's red-flanked skink
• Mochlus laeviceps (W. Peters, 1874) – common writhing skink
• Mochlus lanceolatus Broadley, 1990 – Broadley's writhing skink
• Mochlus mabuiiformis (Loveridge, 1935) – Mabuya-like writhing skink
• Mochlus mafianus (Broadley, 1994) – mafia writhing skink
• Mochlus mocquardi (Chabanaud, 1917) – Mocquard's writhing skink ^[3]
• Mochlus paedocarinatus Lanza & Carfi, 1968 – Lanza's writhing skink, Abyssinian writhing skink
• Mochlus pembanus Boettger, 1913 – Pemba Island writhing skink
• Mochlus productus (Boulenger, 1909) – Boulenger's writhing skink
• Mochlus simonettai (Lanza, 1979) – Simonetta's writhing skink
• Mochlus somalicus (Parker, 1942) – Somali writhing skink
• Mochlus striatus (Hallowell, 1854)
• Mochlus sundevallii (A. Smith, 1849) – Sundevall's writhing skink
• Mochlus tanae (Loveridge, 1935) – Loveridge's writhing skink, Tana River writhing skink
• Mochlus vinciguerrae (Parker, 1932) – Vinciguerra's writhing skink

Nota bene : A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Mochlus.

References

1. Alexander, Graham; Marais, Johan (2008). A Guide to the Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik Publishers. 408 pp. ISBN   978-1-77007-386-9. ("Writhing Skinks", pp. 247–248).
2. Genus Mochlus at The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
3. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN   978-1-4214-0135-5. (Lygosoma mocquardi, p. 181).

Further reading

Günther A (1864). "Report on a Collection of Reptiles and Fishes made by Dr. Kirk in the Zambesi and Nyassa Regions". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London1864: 303–314. (Mochlus, new genus, p. 308).