Trachylepis homalocephala

Trachylepis homalocephala, commonly known as the red-sided skink, is a small, slender species of skink in the subfamily Mabuyinae.

Trachylepis homalocephala
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Trachylepis
Species:
T. homalocephala
Binomial name
Trachylepis homalocephala
(Wiegmann, 1828)
Synonyms[1]
  • Scincus homolocephalus [sic]
    Wiegmann, 1828
  • Tiliqua homolocephalus
    — Gray, 1831
  • Mabuia homalocephala [sic]
    — Boulenger, 1887
  • Mabuya homalocephala
    — V. FitzSimons, 1943
  • Euprepis homalocephalus
    — Mausfeld et al., 2002
  • Trachylepis homalocephala
    — Bauer, 2003

Geographic range and habitat

T. homalocephala is indigenous to Southern Africa, where it typically occurs in coastal thicket and leaf litter along the South African coast - from Cape Town, eastwards along the coast as far as Mozambique. A few tiny isolated populations also occur in moist mountainous areas further inland.

Description

This small, elegant skink has a shiny, brightly striped body. Males change colour in the breeding season, developing bright red stripes on their flanks.

Reproduction

The adult female red-sided skink lays around 6 eggs in summer.[1][2]

Taxonomy

T. homalocephala was first described in 1828 by Weigmann (who named it Scincus homolocephalus), based on specimens at the Natural History Museum in Berlin that were collected in South Africa by Ludwig Krebs.[3]

In captivity

Red-sided skinks are popular in the pet trade.

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References
  1. "Trachylepis homalocephala ". The Reptile Database. http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species.php?genus=Trachylepis&species=homalocephala
  2. Moravec, Jiří; Franzen, Michael; Böhme, Wolfgang (2006). "Notes on the taxonomy, nomenclature and distribution of the Trachylepis (formerly Mabuya) aurata (Linnaeus, 1758) complex". Herpetologia Bonnensis II, Proc. 13th Congress Soc. Europaea Herpetologica 89-93. http://www.zsm.mwn.de/her/pdf/Moravec_et_al_2006_Trachylepis_aurata.pdf
  3. Bauer AM (2004). "Early German Herpetological Observations and Explorations of Southern Africa, with special reference to the Zoological Museum of Berlin". Bonn Zoological Bulletin 52 (3/4): 205.

Further reading
  • Boulenger GA (1887). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume III. ... Scincidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 575 pp. + Plates I-XL. (Mabuia homalocephala, pp. 170–171).
  • 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. (Mabuya homalocephala, p. 153 + Plate 52).
  • Wiegmann AF (1828). "Beyträge zur Amphibienkunde ". Isis von Oken 21 (4): 364-383. (Scincus homolocephalus, new species, p. 374). (in German and Latin).


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