Acontias gracilicauda

Acontias gracilicauda, the slendertail lance skink or thin-tailed legless skink, is a species of skink.[1][2] It is found in the Republic of South Africa (Eastern Cape Province, Mpumalanga, Free State, North-West Province, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal) and Lesotho.[1] Acontias namaquensis was formerly included in this species as a subspecies, but is now recognized as a distinct species.[1][2]

Acontias gracilicauda
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Acontias
Species:
A. gracilicauda
Binomial name
Acontias gracilicauda
Essex, 1925[2]
Approximate range of Acontias gracilicauda. The disjunct, western component is now considered a distinct species, Acontias namaquensis.

Description

Adult males measure on average 152 mm (6.0 in) and adult females 179 mm (7.0 in) in snout–vent length.[3] It has no limbs, like other members of its genus.[4]

References
  1. Bauer, A.M. & Conradie, W. 2018. Acontias gracilicauda. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T44975977A115669183. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T44975977A115669183.en. Downloaded on 9 January 2020.
  2. Acontias gracilicauda at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 6 September 2020.
  3. Heideman, N.J.L.; Daniels, S. R.; Mashinini, P. L.; Mokone, M. E.; Thibedi, M. L.; Hendricks, M. G. J.; Wilson, B. A. & Douglas, R. M. (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. S2CID 86496784.
  4. Daniels, S.R.; Heideman, Neil J.L.; Hendricks, Martin G.J.; Mokone, Mphalile E. & Crandall, Keith A. (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
  • Bauer, A.M., and Branch, W.R. (2003). The herpetofauna of the Richtersveld National Park, Northern Cape Province, Republic of South Africa. Herpetological Natural History 8:111-160 [2001]
  • Daniels, S. R.; Hendricks, M. G. J.; Heideman, N. J. L.; Wilson, B. A. (1999). "Geographic Distribution. Acontias gracilicauda gracilicauda Essex 1925: Thin-tailed legless skink". African Herp News. 29: 43.
  • Essex, R. 1925. Descriptions of two new species of the genus Acontias and notes on some other lizards found in the Cape Province. Rec. Albany Mus. 3: 332–342.
  • Hewitt, J. (1938). "Description of new forms of the genus Acontias". Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Africa. 26: 39–48. doi:10.1080/00359193809519768.


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