Fire skink
| Fire skink | ||||||||||||
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Fire skink ( Lepidothyris fernandi ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Lepidothyris fernandi | ||||||||||||
| ( Burton , 1836) |
The fire skink ( Lepidothyris fernandi , syn .: Riopa fernandi , Mochlus fernandi , Lygosoma fernandi ), also called splendid skink , is a lizard from the skink family . It is common in tropical West and Central Africa. Its sister species Lepidothyris hinkeli is found further east in Uganda , Rwanda , the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya . The species was described in 1836 by Edward Burton using a specimen from the island of Bioko in the Gulf of Guinea as Tiliqua fernandi and in 2009 by Wagner et al. assigned to the genus Lepidothyris .
description
The head-torso length is approx. 17 to 18 with a total length of approx. 37 to 38 centimeters. The upper side is monochrome golden brown, but the sides of the body show strong black spots and bands with white parts on a red background from the head to about the middle of the tail. The legs are dark brown to blackish. The males are usually somewhat larger and more colorful than the females.
distribution and habitat
The fire skink lives in the tropical rainforests of West and Central Africa. Like almost all skinks, the species is mainly ground-dwelling. Fire skinks like to hide in caves and under roots, sometimes they bury themselves in loose soil. They are active at twilight, but can often be observed during the day while sunbathing.
literature
- Oliver Drewes: Terrarium animals from A to Z ,
- Paul Heinrich Stettler: Handbook of Terrarium Science . Kosmos, 1978. ISBN 3-440-04645-1 .
- Astrid Falk: Basic terraristics course . Eugen Ulmer GmbH & Co., 2004, ISBN 3-8001-4785-8 .
