Kasner's dwarf burrowing skink explained

Kasner's dwarf burrowing skink (Scelotes kasneri), also known commonly as Kasner's burrowing skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species endemic to South Africa.

Geographic range

S. kasneri is indigenous to the Western Cape coast of South Africa.

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of S. kasneri is dunes and sandy soil, at elevations from sea level to .

Description

The limbs of S. kasneri are greatly reduced. The forelimbs are entirely lost, and each hind limb retains only two digits.

Behavior

S. kasneri is terrestrial and fossorial.

Reproduction

S. kasneri is ovoviviparous.

Etymology

The specific name, kasneri, as well as the common names, are in honor of J.H. Kasner, collector of the type specimen.^[1]

Further reading

• 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. . (Scelotes kasneri, p. 144 + Plate 48).
• 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 for species boundaries, digit reduction and conservation". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 61 (3): 823–833.

• FitzSimons VFM (1939). "Descriptions of some new species and subspecies of lizards from South Africa". Annals of the Transvaal Museum 20 (1): 5–16. (Scelotes kasneri, new species, p. 13).

Notes and References

1. [species:Bo Beolens|Beolens, Bo]