Lizards > Skinks > Coastal Legless Skink

Skinks (Scincidae; skinke, gladde akkedisse)

Coastal Legless Skink / Kus-pootlose Skink

Acontias litoralis

Size A small legless skink with adult snout-vent length in the region of 110-120 mm. Females reach larger body sizes than males.

Description Limbs are absent. The snout is flattened and spadelike. There are no external ear openings. The movable lower eyelids are transparent. Two colour morphs are found, some specimens are uniformly yellow-orange with a dark eye stripe, others have the head and body yellow, with a broad dark brown band down the back.

Biology The Coastal Legless Skink is a burrower and is normally found in leaf litter underneath scrubs (particularly Ruschia crassisepala ) on coastal dunes. It feeds on small soil invertebrates. The species is viviparous and gives birth to 2-4 young in late summer.

Distribution It is restricted to the coastline of the Northern and Western Cape, from Daberas south to Elands Bay.

Distribution in the GCBC Probably only marginally entering the corridor in the Elands Bay area.

Conservation status Not listed.

Threats Mining activities along the coast.

Current studies None. Recent studies include:

MASHININI, P.L. 2004. An ecological study of Acontias litoralis along the Cape west coast of South Africa. Unpublished M.Sc. thesis, University of the Free State.