Typhlacontias brevipes

Typhlacontias brevipes, also known as the FitzSimon's [sic] burrowing skink[2] or short blind dart skink,[1] is a skink species endemic to the Namib Desert (Namibia).[1][2] It was described by Vivian FitzSimons in 1938.[1]

Typhlacontias brevipes
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Typhlacontias
Species:
T. brevipes
Binomial name
Typhlacontias brevipes
Synonyms[1]

Fitzsimonsia brevipes (FitzSimons, 1938)

Etymology

The species name is derived from the Latin words brevis, -e = short and pes, pedis = foot.[1]

Description

These slender skinks have small eyes with no eyelids and no external ear openings.[2] The hindlimb rudiments are visible on either side of cloaca.[1] The body coloration varies from light buff to sulphur yellow. Vague stripes, formed by the scales, can occur along the back and upper flanks. The tail is blue-grey. They can reach a snout–vent length of 113 mm (4.4 in).[2]

Females are viviparous and give birth to up to three young.[2]

Ecology

Typhlacontias brevipes typically occur on the leeward side of dunes in the roots of grass tufts found in semi-stable sand. They are active at night and in the cooler hours of the day when they forage for small insects like ants, termites, antlions, and beetles.[2]

References
  1. Typhlacontias brevipes at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 7 September 2020.
  2. "FitzSimon's burrowing skink". Cardboard Box Travel Shop - Namibia. Retrieved 7 September 2020.

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