The western three-toed skink (''Chalcides striatus'') is a species of

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

with tiny legs in the family Scincidae. It is found in the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

, southern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and parts of northwestern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are temperate

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s, temperate

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, temperate

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

, sandy shores,

arable land Arable land (from the , "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the purposes of a ...

, pastureland, and rural gardens. It was first described 1829 by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier. The generic name comes from the Greek "chalcides" meaning 'copper' and the specific name is derived from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

"striatus" meaning 'streak'.

Description

This skink superficially looks like a snake except for the presence of two pairs of tiny, three-toed limbs. It has a small head and thick neck and grows to a length of about . It is smooth and glossy, with a silvery or bronze colour with about ten slender longitudinal dark lines running along the body. The head is usually darker than the body. It can be distinguished from the very similar Italian three-toed skink (''Chalcides chalcides'') by the fact that its limbs are slightly larger than that species and the three toes of the hind feet are all the same length.

Distribution and habitat

The western three-toed skink is native to southwestern parts of Europe. Its range includes

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

in the extreme northwest of Italy, southern France, Spain and Portugal. It seems to be absent from eastern Spain and there is an isolated populations near

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

in southwestern France. It occurs at elevations of up to above sea level. Its typical habitat is damp but sunny areas with dense low vegetation such as meadows, stream verges, marshes, grassy slopes and hedges. In the western part of its range, near the Atlantic Ocean, it may inhabit drier heathland with low scrub and gorse.

Behaviour

The western three-toed skink can move only slowly using its tiny limbs but can also progress at a much greater speed by undulating its body from side to side in a snake-like fashion. It hibernates deep underground in the winter and emerges late in the spring. It is very secretive and when disturbed hides in dense vegetation, under stones or in pre-existing burrows. It feeds on a wide range of invertebrate prey. Males gather during the breeding season and may fight or eat others. After a gestation period of two to three months, the female produces up to fifteen live young, each about at birth. The female sometimes dies during this process. The young attain maturity at age three or four.

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has listed the western three-toed skink as being of "

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

" because of its wide range and the fact that it is very common in some parts of its range. It is nevertheless threatened by changes in agricultural practices resulting in degradation of its habitat. In some areas it is persecuted because it is mistakenly thought to be

venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

ous.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2121134 Chalcides Reptiles described in 1829 Taxa named by Georges Cuvier Taxonomy articles created by Polbot