SKINKS
Skinks (Family Scincidae) are not only the most diverse lizard group but are also one of the world’s most species-rich families of terrestrial vertebrates. With ~1,730 described species, skinks have a global distribution, with diversity hotspots in Australasia, Asia, and Africa.
Skinks are characterised by having large shield-like head scales, smooth glossy cycloid scales (although some species have keeled scales), and a bony secondary palate.
HABITAT
Skinks epitomize diversity in virtually every aspect of their biology. Skinks can be terrestrial, arboreal, fossorial or semi-aquatic. They can inhabit deserts, rainforests, windswept oceanic islands, and alpine peaks.
Global skink distribution and diversity
Photo: Mike Gardner
Photo: David Chapple
Photo: Mike Gardner
Photo: Mike Gardner
MORPHOLOGY
Their body size exhibits a 21-fold difference from the smallest (24 mm snout-vent length [SVL], Scincella macrotis) to largest species (500 mm SVL, Acontias plumbeus).
Photo: Laurent Chirio
Photo: Aurelien Miralles
Photo: Mike Gardner
Photo: Laurent Chirio
Skinks exhibit the greatest degree of morphological variation of any lizard family, with species ranging from long and slender and large and robust. They exhibit extreme variation in limb development, from species with the full tetrapod complement of 4 long, 5-fingered limbs, to shorter limbs with fewer fingers, to species with either no forelimbs or (rarely) no hindlimbs, to forms lacking limbs altogether.
REPRODUCTION
Skinks display more transitions from oviparity to viviparity than any other vertebrate (or invertebrate) family.
There are even two skink species that display geographic variation in their reproductive mode (& one species can even have both reproductive modes within the same clutch!!).
Photo: Aurelien Miralles
Photo: Aurelien Miralles
Photo: R.J.Ellis
Photo: Aurelien Miralles
Photo: Werner Conradie
Photo: Nguyen Quang Truong
Photo: Laurent Chirio
Photo: Werner Conradie