Skink

Family Scincidae

Reptile

Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing skinks. There are somewhere around 1,500 living skinks species that inhabit every continent - except Antarctica - as well as many oceanic islands. Overall, they make up about 25% of all lizard species alive today. Skinks are considered the most diverse family of lizards, which means they have a lot of differences between the species. For example, they can live in a multitude of environments from deserts to rainforests. Some burrow underground. Certain species may make complex connected burrows with other members of their species. They may even share nests, but we’ll discuss that in just a bit. Some skinks live semi-aquatic lives. One species gathers food from tide pools meaning it can tolerate saltwater, remaining submerged for minutes. There are also skinks who live in trees. So the places they live really depends on the species. Even defining what makes a skink a skink can be difficult because they come in all different shapes and sizes.

Some skinks are identifiable by their smooth scales and nearly non-existent necks. But some have keeled scales, which means their scales have a ridge to them. Others have protrusions that can make them look more like dragons than something between a lizard and a snake. Of course, some skinks do look like something between a lizard and a snake because they have reduced limbs or no limbs at all, and some have even lost their moveable eyelids - just like snakes who also have no eyelids!

Some skinks have blue tongues, like the well known blue tongued skinks who are often kept as pets. Fossorial, or burrowing, skinks tend to have blunt heads, but others can be quite spiny. Some even have green blood which is caused by an excessive amount of bile pigment in their bodies! In size, they range from just barely over an inch in length to over a foot long in the largest species such as the prehensile tail skink.

And their differences don’t just stop at their looks. Some skinks are diurnal while others are nocturnal. Some mostly eat insects while others subsist off plants. Some are specialists when it comes to eating and mostly focus on a single food source such as earthworms or fungus, but then other species have been found eating general diets which can even include frog eggs! They’re even diverse in their breeding habits!

Some skinks breed year round while others have distinct breeding seasons. Sometimes the breeding season is during the wettest part of the year and sometimes the direst. Like anacondas, some skinks give birth to live young while others lay eggs. This can even be present in members of the same species as described in research involving Australian skinks!

Those that do lay eggs may brood them, like pythons, where the eggs are guarded by a parent. There may be as few as two babies born at a time to dozens depending on the species. In age, skinks may only live a few years and fall victim to predators such as birds of prey, mammals, and other reptiles, while some skinks can survive for decades.

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