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]

Acontias meleagris
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Scincidae
Genus:	Acontias
Species:	A. meleagris
Binomial name
Acontias meleagris (Linnaeus, 1758)

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]}

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

• Heideman, N. J. L.; et al. (2008). "Sexual dimorphism in the African legless skink subfamily Acontiinae (Reptilia: Scincidae)". African Zoology. 43 (2): 192–201. doi:10.3377/1562-7020-43.2.192.
• Hewitt, J. (1938). "Description of new forms of the genus Acontias". Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa. 26: 39–48. doi:10.1080/00359193809519768.