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

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

skink Skinks are a type of lizard belonging to the family (biology), family Scincidae, a family in the Taxonomic rank, infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one o ...

in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Mabuyinae Mabuyinae is a subfamily of lizards, commonly known as 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 distri ...

Geographic range and habitat

''T. homalocephala'' is indigenous to

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

, where it typically occurs in coastal thicket and leaf litter along the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n coast, from

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

eastwards along the coast as far as

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. 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 six 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