Mochlus
Mochlus is a genus of skinks, lizards in the family Scincidae. The genus is endemic to Africa.
| Mochlus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Sundevall's writhing skink (Mochlus s. sundevallii ) in the Soutpansberg, South Africa. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Scincidae |
| Subfamily: | Lygosominae |
| Genus: | Mochlus Günther, 1864 |
Description
Skinks of the genus Mochlus are cylindrical in shape and robust. They get the common name "writhing skinks" from the side-to-side movement that they make when held in the hand.[1]
Diet
Skinks in the genus Mochlus feed on insects and millipedes.[1]
Species
The following 18 species are recognized as being valid.[2]
- Mochlus brevicaudis (Greer, Grandison & Barbault, 1985)
- Mochlus fernandi (Burton, 1836) – fire skink
- Mochlus grandisonianus Lanza & Carfi, 1966 – Lanza's writhing skink
- Mochlus guineensis (W. Peters, 1879) – Guinean forest skink
- Mochlus hinkeli Wagner, Böhme, Pauwels & Schmitz, 2009 – Hinkel’s red-sided skink, Hinkel’s red-flanked skink
- Mochlus laeviceps (W. Peters, 1874) – common writhing skink
- Mochlus mabuiiformis (Loveridge, 1935) – Mabuya-like writhing skink
- Mochlus mafianus (Broadley, 1994) – mafia writhing skink
- Mochlus mocquardi (Chabanaud, 1917) – Mocquard's writhing skink[3]
- Mochlus paedocarinatus Lanza & Carfi, 1968 – Lanza's writhing skink, Abyssinian writhing skink
- Mochlus pembanus Boettger, 1913 – Pemba Island writhing skink
- Mochlus productus (Boulenger, 1909) – Boulenger's writhing skink
- Mochlus simonettai (Lanza, 1979) – Simonetta's writhing skink
- Mochlus somalicus (Parker, 1942) – Somali writhing skink
- Mochlus striatus (Hallowell, 1854)
- Mochlus sundevallii (A. Smith, 1849) – Sundevall's writhing skink
- Mochlus tanae (Loveridge, 1935) – Loveridge's writhing skink, Tana River writhing skink
- Mochlus vinciguerrae (Parker, 1932) – Vinciguerra's writhing skink
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Mochlus.
References
- Alexander, Graham; Marais, Johan (2008). A Guide to the Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik Publishers. 408 pp. ISBN 978-1-77007-386-9. ("Writhing Skinks", pp. 247-248).
- Genus Mochlus at The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- 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. (Lygosoma mocquardi, p. 181).
Further reading
Günther A (1864). "Report on a Collection of Reptiles and Fishes made by Dr. Kirk in the Zambesi and Nyassa Regions". Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1864: 303–314. (Mochlus, new genus, p. 308).
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