Acontias meleagris

Acontias meleagris, the Cape Legless Skink, is a species of skink found in the southern Cape of South Africa. It has no limbs, like most members of the subfamily Acontinae.

Its slender, tube-shaped body is golden-brown with tiny black spots. These spots fuse into longitudinal stripes in some specimens. It is usually found burrowing in dry sand as well as beneath boulders, dead trees and other detritus. It gives birth to 2-4 young in summer. ^[1]

References

1. ^ JCVI.org

Further reading

• 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. 
• Heideman, N.J.L. et al. (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. 
• Hewitt, J. (1938). "Description of new forms of the genus Acontias". Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Africa 26: 39–48. doi:10.1080/00359193809519768.