''Tytthoscincus temasekensis'', common name Singapore swamp skink, is a
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), ...
of
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 ...
s belonging to the family
Scincidae.
Etymology
The species name ''temasekensis'' derives from the word meaning 'Sea Town' in Old Javanese, an ancient name of a settlement in Singapore. As the Latin suffix means 'from a place', the epithet ''temasekensis'' can be translated ''from Singapore''.
[The Reptile Database]
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Distribution
This uncommon species is present in Singapore, and in restricted areas of the Peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...
.[
]
Habitat
The Singapore swamp skink occurs in freshwater swamp forest, in peat swamp areas and close to shallow streams.[
]
Description
''Tytthoscincus temasekensis'' can reach a total body length of about . These small skinks have an elongate and dorso-ventrally flattened body, with smooth scales. Limbs and feet are tiny, short and slender. Its dorsal basic colour is dark brown, with a pale line from the head to the end of the tail. The abdomen is pale brownish. Young skinks are pale brown and slightly pinkish.[Ecology Asia]
/ref>[Grismer, L. L., Wood Jr, P. L., Lim, K. K., & Liang, L. J. (2017)]
A new species of swamp-dwelling skink (Tytthoscincus) from Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 65, 574-584.
/ref>
Behavior
These skinks are skilled swimmers and very elusive. Usually they hide amongst or beneath leaf litter next to streams or swamps.[
]
References
External links
The Biodiversity of Singapore
Lizards of Asia
Tytthoscincus
Reptiles described in 2017
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