''Trachylepis homalocephala'', commonly known as the red-sided skink, is a small, slender

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

skink Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. S ...

in the subfamily

Mabuyinae Mabuyinae is a subfamily of skinks within the family Scincidae. The genera in this subfamily were previously found to belong the '' Mabuya'' group in the large subfamily Lygosominae. They have a pantropical distribution, being found througho ...

Geographic range and habitat

''T. homalocephala'' is indigenous to

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number ...

, where it typically occurs in

coastal thicket The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones ...

and leaf litter along the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

n coast - from

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

, eastwards along the coast as far as

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Mala ...

. A few tiny isolated populations also occur in moist mountainous areas further inland.

Description

This small, elegant skink has a shiny, brightly striped body. Males change colour in the breeding season, developing bright red stripes on their flanks.

Reproduction

The adult female red-sided skink lays around 6 eggs in summer."''Trachylepis homalocephala'' ". The Reptile Database. http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species.php?genus=Trachylepis&species=homalocephala

Taxonomy

''T. homalocephala'' was first described in 1828 by Wiegmann (who named it ''Scincus homolocephalus''), based on specimens at the Natural History Museum in Berlin that were collected in South Africa by Ludwig Krebs. Bauer AM (2004).
Early German Herpetological Observations and Explorations of Southern Africa, with special reference to the Zoological Museum of Berlin
. ''Bonn Zoological Bulletin'' 52 (3/4): 205.

In captivity

Red-sided skinks are popular in the pet trade.

References

* Boulenger GA (1887). ''Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume III. ... Scincidæ ...'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 575 pp. + Plates I-XL. (''Mabuia homalocephala'', pp. 170–171). * 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. . (''Mabuya homalocephala'', p. 153 + Plate 52). * Wiegmann AF (1828). "''Beyträge zur Amphibienkunde'' ". ''Isis von Oken'' 21 (4): 364-383. (''Scincus homolocephalus'', new species, p. 374). (in German and Latin). Trachylepis Skinks of Africa Reptiles of South Africa Reptiles described in 1828 Taxa named by Arend Friedrich August Wiegmann {{Lygosominae-stub