Gronovi's Dwarf Burrowing Skink Scelotes gronovii
Description
Description from View on Wikipedia →
Gronovi's dwarf burrowing skink (Scelotes gronovii) is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to South Africa.[1]
Etymology
Both the specific name, gronovii, and the common name are in honour of Dutch naturalist Laurens Theodorus Gronovius.[3]
Description
S. gronovii has no front legs, and each back leg has only one toe.[2] The snout-to-vent length (SVL) of adults is usually 5–6 cm (2.0–2.4 in), and the maximum recorded SVL is 7 cm (2.8 in).[4]
Habitat
The preferred natural habitat of S. gronovii is sparse sandy shrubland in the southwestern coastal margins of the Western Cape (including Dassen Island), at altitudes below 100 m (330 ft).[1]
Behaviour
S. gronovii is terrestrial and fossorial.[1]
Reproduction
S. gronovii is ovoviviparous.[2] A litter consists of one or two newborns, each of which has a total length (including tail) of 4–5 cm (1.6–2.0 in).[4]
References
- ^ a b c d Conradie, W.; Bauer, A.M.; Alexander, G.J.; Pietersen, D.; Tolley, K.A.; Weeber, J (2022). "Scelotes gronovii ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T19955A197401697. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
- ^ a b c Species Scelotes gronovii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
- ^ 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. (Scelotes gronovii, p. 109).
- ^ a b Branch (2004).
Further reading
- Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second Impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Scelotes gronovii, p. 142 + Plate 47).
- Daudin FM (1802). Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière des Reptiles; Ouvrage faisant suite à l'Histoire Naturelle générale et particulière, composée par Leclerc de Buffon; et rédigée par C.S. Sonnini, membre de plusiers sociétés savantes. Tome quatrième. Paris: F. Dufart. 397 pp. (Seps gronovii, pp. 354–358). (in French and Latin).
- Heideman, Neil J.L.; Mulcahy, Daniel G.; Sites, Jack W. Jr.; Hendricks, Martin G.J.; Daniels, Savel R. (2011). "Cryptic diversity and morphological convergence in threatened species of fossorial skinks in the genus Scelotes (Squamata: Scincidae) from the Western Cape Coast of South Africa: Implications forspecies boundaries, digit reduction and conservation". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 61 (3): 823–833.
External links
-
Media related to Scelotes gronovii at Wikimedia Commons
 |
This skink article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Gronovi's dwarf burrowing skink", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Content may have been omitted from the original, but no content has been changed or extended.
Common Names
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Scelotes
Species: Gronovi's Dwarf Burrowing Skink Scelotes gronovii
Conservation Status
least concern (LC)
Gronovi's Dwarf Burrowing Skink Scelotes gronovii