Acontias gracilicauda

Acontias gracilicauda, the slendertail lance skink or thin-tailed legless skink, is a species of skink. It is found in the Republic of South Africa (Eastern Cape Province, Mpumalanga, Free State, North-West Province, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal) and Lesotho. Acontias namaquensis was formerly included in this species as a subspecies, but is now recognized as a distinct species.

Description

Adult males measure on average and adult females in snout–vent length. It has no limbs, like other members of its genus.

References

Further reading

• Bauer, A.M., and Branch, W.R. (2003). The herpetofauna of the Richtersveld National Park, Northern Cape Province, Republic of South Africa. Herpetological Natural History 8:111-160 [2001]
• Essex, R. 1925. Descriptions of two new species of the genus Acontias and notes on some other lizards found in the Cape Province. Rec. Albany Mus. 3: 332–342.