''Typhlacontias brevipes'', also known as FitzSimon's burrowing skink or short blind dart 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 Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Namib Desert The Namib ( ; pt, Namibe) is a coastal desert in Southern Africa. The name is of Khoekhoegowab origin and means "vast place". According to the broadest definition, the Namib stretches for more than along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Namib ...

(Namibia). It was described by Vivian FitzSimons in 1938.

Etymology

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

Description

These slender skinks have small eyes with no eyelids and no external ear openings. The hindlimb rudiments are visible on either side of cloaca. 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 Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the most c ...

of . Females are

viviparous Among animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. This is opposed to oviparity which is a reproductive mode in which females lay developing eggs that complete their development and hatch externally from the m ...

and give birth to up to three young.

Ecology

''Typhlacontias brevipes'' typically occur on the leeward side of

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

s 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,

antlion The antlions are a group of about 2,000 species of insect in the neuropteran family Myrmeleontidae. They are known for the predatory habits of their larvae, which mostly dig pits to trap passing ants or other prey. In North America, the larvae ...

s, and beetles.

References

External links

Photographs available at:
Observations in the Genus: Typhlacontias

Specimen from Swakopmund
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5127911 Typhlacontias Skinks of Africa Reptiles of Namibia Endemic fauna of Namibia Reptiles described in 1938 Taxa named by Vivian Frederick Maynard FitzSimons