Gronovi's dwarf burrowing skink (Scelotes gronovii) is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to South Africa.[1]
| Gronovi's dwarf burrowing skink | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Scincidae |
| Genus: | Scelotes |
| Species: | S. gronovii
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| Binomial name | |
| Scelotes gronovii (Daudin, 1802)
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Etymology edit
Both the specific name, gronovii, and the common name are in honour of Dutch naturalist Laurens Theodorus Gronovius.[3]
Description edit
S. gronovii has no front legs, and each back leg has only one toe.[2] The snout-to-vent length (SVL) of adults is usually 5–6 cm (2.0–2.4 in), and the maximum recorded SVL is 7 cm (2.8 in).[4]
Habitat edit
The preferred natural habitat of S. gronovii is sparse sandy shrubland in the southwestern coastal margins of the Western Cape (including Dassen Island), at altitudes below 100 m (330 ft).[1]
Behaviour edit
S. gronovii is terrestrial and fossorial.[1]
Reproduction edit
S. gronovii is ovoviviparous.[2] A litter consists of one or two newborns, each of which has a total length (including tail) of 4–5 cm (1.6–2.0 in).[4]
References edit
- ^ a b c d Conradie, W.; Bauer, A.M.; Alexander, G.J.; Pietersen, D.; Tolley, K.A.; Weeber, J (2022). "Scelotes gronovii ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T19955A197401697. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
- ^ a b c Species Scelotes gronovii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
- ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Scelotes gronovii, p. 109).
- ^ a b Branch (2004).
Further reading edit
- Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second Impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Scelotes gronovii, p. 142 + Plate 47).
- Daudin FM (1802). Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière des Reptiles; Ouvrage faisant suite à l'Histoire Naturelle générale et particulière, composée par Leclerc de Buffon; et rédigée par C.S. Sonnini, membre de plusiers sociétés savantes. Tome quatrième. Paris: F. Dufart. 397 pp. (Seps gronovii, pp. 354–358). (in French and Latin).
- Heideman, Neil J.L.; Mulcahy, Daniel G.; Sites, Jack W. Jr.; Hendricks, Martin G.J.; Daniels, Savel R. (2011). "Cryptic diversity and morphological convergence in threatened species of fossorial skinks in the genus Scelotes (Squamata: Scincidae) from the Western Cape Coast of South Africa: Implications forspecies boundaries, digit reduction and conservation". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 61 (3): 823–833.
External links edit
Media related to Scelotes gronovii at Wikimedia Commons
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