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Skink
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Skinks are the most diverse group of lizards. They comprise the family Scincidae which shares the superfamily or infraorder Scincomorpha with several other lizard families, including Lacertidae (the "true" or wall lizards). Scincidae is the largest of the lizard families with about 1,200 species.
ks look roughly like true lizards, but most species have no pronounced neck and sport relatively small legs.
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Skinks are the most diverse group of lizards. They comprise the family Scincidae which shares the superfamily or infraorder Scincomorpha with several other lizard families, including Lacertidae (the "true" or wall lizards). Scincidae is the largest of the lizard families with about 1,200 species.
Description
Skinks look roughly like true lizards, but most species have no pronounced neck and sport relatively small legs. Several genera (e.g., Typhlosaurus) have no limbs at all, others, such as Neoseps, have only reduced limbs. Often, their way of moving resembles that of snakes more than that of other lizards. Skinks usually have long, tapering tails that can be shed and regenerated.
Most skinks are medium sized with a length from the snout to the vent of up to 12 cm (4.7 in), although there are a few that grow to larger sizes, such as the Corucia, which can reach 35 cm (13.8") from snout to vent.
Diet
Skinks are generally carnivorous and largely eat insects, including crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, and caterpillars. They also eat earthworms, snails, slugs, isopods, other lizards, and small rodents. Some species, particularly those favored as home pets, have a more varied diet and can be maintained on a regimen of roughly 60% vegetables/leaves/fruit and 40% meat and meat products (cat or dog food).
Habitat
Skinks are found in a variety of habitats worldwide. Some species are endangered, such as the Chevron Skink in New Zealand, reported less than 100 times since first being identified in 1906.
Many species are good burrowers. There are more terrestrial or fossorial (burying) species than arboreal (tree-climbing) or aquatic species. Some are "sand swimmers", especially the desert species, such as the mole skink in Florida. Most skinks are diurnal (day-active) and typically bask on rocks or logs during the day.
Breeding
During the breeding season, some types of skink will exhibit orange or red markings to indicate sexual maturity. Approximately 45% of skink species are ovoviviparous (hatching eggs internally and giving birth to live offspring). The approximately 55% of skink species which are oviparous (egg-laying) give birth in small clutches.
Predators
Raccoons, foxes, possums, snakes, coatis, crows, cats, dogs, herons, hawks, and kookaburras all prey on skinks.
Gallery
Genera
Many large genera, Mabuya for example, are still insufficiently studied, and systematics is at times controversial, see e.g. the taxonomy of the Western Skink, Eumeces skiltonianus.
External links
- at the TIGR.
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- Species account from the Iowa Reptile and Amphibian Field Guide
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