The Limpopo burrowing skink (''Scelotes limpopoensis'') is a

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

species found in the

Limpopo River The Limpopo River rises in South Africa and flows generally eastward through Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a group of Tsonga settlers led by Hosi Rivombo who settled in the mountaino ...

valley in South Africa. This species lost the forelimbs entirely and the hind limbs are reduced to only two digits.

Taxonomy

There are two sub-species: * ''Scelotes limpopoensis albiventris'' JACOBSEN 1987 - first described in the Langjan Nature Reserve * ''Scelotes limpopoensis limpopoensis'' FITZSIMONS 1930 Although both sub-species occupy a similar habitat the range of ''S. l. albiventris'' is smaller than ''S. l. limpopoensis'' and they have not been discovered in

sympatry In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sh ...

, and may probably be a full species.

References

External links

biodiversityexplorer.org
Scelotes Reptiles of South Africa Skinks of Africa Reptiles described in 1930 Taxa named by Vivian Frederick Maynard FitzSimons Lizards of Africa {{skink-stub