Biology:Gronovi's dwarf burrowing skink
| Gronovi's dwarf burrowing skink | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Scincidae |
| Genus: | Scelotes |
| Species: | S. gronovii
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| Binomial name | |
| Scelotes gronovii (Daudin, 1802)
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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Gronovi's dwarf burrowing skink (Scelotes gronovii) is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to South Africa .[2]
Etymology
Both the specific name, gronovii, and the common name are in honor of Dutch naturalist Laurens Theodorus Gronovius.[3]
Description
S. gronovii has no front legs, and each back leg has only one toe.[1] The snout-to-vent length (SVL) of adults is usually 5–6 cm (2.0–2.4 in), and the maximum recorded SVL is 7 cm (2.8 in).[4]
Habitat
The preferred natural habitat of S. gronovii is sparse sandy shrubland, at altitudes below 100 m (330 ft).[2]
Behavior
S. gronovii is terrestrial and fossorial.[2]
Reproduction
S. gronovii is ovoviviparous.[1] A litter consists of one or two newborns, each of which has a total length (including tail) of 4–5 cm (1.6–2.0 in).[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Species Scelotes gronovii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namediucn status 17 November 2021 - ↑ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN:978-1-4214-0135-5. (Scelotes gronovii, p. 109).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Branch (2004).
Further reading
- 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. (Scelotes gronovii, p. 142 + Plate 47).
- Daudin FM (1802). Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière des Reptiles; Ouvrage faisant suite à l'Histoire Naturelle générale et particulière, composée par Leclerc de Buffon; et rédigée par C.S. Sonnini, membre de plusiers sociétés savantes. Tome quatrième. Paris: F. Dufart. 397 pp. (Seps gronovii, pp. 354–358). (in French and Latin).
- Heideman, Neil J.L.; Mulcahy, Daniel G.; Sites, Jack W. Jr.; Hendricks, Martin G.J.; Daniels, Savel R. (2011). "Cryptic diversity and morphological convergence in threatened species of fossorial skinks in the genus Scelotes (Squamata: Scincidae) from the Western Cape Coast of South Africa: Implications forspecies boundaries, digit reduction and conservation". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 61 (3): 823–833.
Wikidata ☰ Q211412 entry
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