Trachylepis spilogaster

The Kalahari tree skink (Trachylepis spilogaster), or spiny mabuya, is a species of lizard in the skink family (Scincidae). The species is endemic to southern Africa, including Namibia, South Africa, western Botswana, and southern Angola.^[1]

Kalahari tree skink
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Scincidae
Genus:	Trachylepis
Species:	T. spilogaster
Binomial name
Trachylepis spilogaster (Peters, 1882)
Synonyms
Mabuya spilogaster Euprepis spilogaster

Habitat

Kalahari tree skinks have been found to live around trees that contain the large colonial nests of the sociable weaver. Their numbers are higher in these areas despite a known predator of skinks, the pygmy falcon, also nesting in these trees. It is theorized that the increased opportunity for places of refuge outweigh the risk of predation.^[2] Skinks found on colony trees have learned to eavesdrop on sociable weavers to warn of approaching pygmy falcons.^[3]

References

1. "Trachylepis spilogaster". Reptile Database. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
2. Rymer, Tasmin L; Thomson, Robert L; Whiting, Martin J (Nov 2014). "At home with the birds: Kalahari tree skinks associate with sociable weaver nests despite African pygmy falcon presence" (PDF). Austral Ecology. 39 (7): 839–847. doi:10.1111/aec.12152. hdl:2263/43816.
3. Lowney, Anthony M; Flower, Tom P; Thomson, Robert L (Jun 2020). "Kalahari skinks eavesdrop on sociable weavers to manage predation by pygmy falcons and expand their realized niche presence". Behavioral Ecology. 31 (5): 1094–1102. doi:10.1093/beheco/araa057.