''Kaestlea travancorica'', also known as the Travancore ground skink or Barbour's ground skink, is a species of

skink Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. Ski ...

endemic to southern Western Ghats.

Description

A medium-sized (3.8 cm), blue-tailed forest skink. Earlier placed in the genus ''

Scincella ''Scincella'' is a genus of lizards in the skink family, Scincidae, commonly referred to as ground skinks. The exact number of species in the genus is unclear, as taxonomic reclassification is ongoing, and sources vary widely. ''Scincella'' ...

'', it is now included in the genus '' Kaestlea''. It is diurnal and known to feed on insects on the forest floor.

Distribution

Restricted to the Western Ghats, India. Mainly known from Travancore regions of Tamil Nadu and Kerala states. Studies conducted in Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve show that this species occurs mainly in high-altitude rain forest habitat at elevations between

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

References

Notes

* Ouboter, P.E. 1986 A revision of the genus ''Scincella'' (Reptilia: Sauria: Scincidae) of Asia, with some notes on its evolution. Zoologische Verhandelingen (Leiden) (No. 229) 1986: 1-6
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* Smith,M.A. 1937 A review of the genus ''Lygosoma'' (Scincida Reptilia) and its allies. Rec. Ind. Mus. 39 (3): 213-234

External links

Kaestlea Reptiles of India Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats Taxa named by Richard Henry Beddome Reptiles described in 1870 {{skink-stub