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Indian Forest Skink

Sphenomorphus indicus

Published on Project Noah
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16.4, 73.6124

Field Notes

Description:

Skinks look roughly like true lizards, but most species have no pronounced neck and their legs are relatively small; several genera (e.g., Typhlosaurus) have no limbs at all. Skink-like lizards first appear in the fossil record about 140 million years ago, during the early Cretaceous, mostly jawbones that appear very skink-like. Definitively skink fossils appear later, during the Miocene period.

Habitat:

As a family, skinks are cosmopolitan; species occur in a variety of habitats worldwide, apart from boreal and polar regions. Various species occur in ecosystems ranging from deserts and mountains to grasslands.

Notes:

Skinks typically seek out sheltered environments out of the elements, such as thick foliage, underneath man-made structures, and ground-level buildings such as garages and first-floor apartments.

Species ID Suggestions

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