- Chalcides chalcides
-
Italian Three-Toed Skink 
Conservation status Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Family: Scincidae Genus: Chalcides Species: C. chalcides Binomial name Chalcides chalcides
(Linnaeus, 1758)The Italian Three-Toed Skink or just Three-Toed Skink (Chalcides chalcides) is a species of skink found from southern France, Italy (including Sicilia, Sardinia and Elba), to northern Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia.[1] It is somewhat common, and is usually found in sunny areas with dense vegetation (usually grass up to 40 cm of height) but can also be found in arid areas. They reach about 48 cm in length, out of which the tail constitutes approximately 3/5. Its body is long and snake-like, coloured usually between brown and olive with 9 - 11 dark stripes on the back. Each of the highly reduced legs has three fingers. They're active during daytime and prey mainly on insects. Females of the species give birth to live young. Its population is slowly declining, but it has some tolerance to habitat modification.
References
- ^ Jose Antonio Mateo Miras, Marc Cheylan, M. Saïd Nouira, Ulrich Joger, Paulo Sá-Sousa, Valentin Pérez-Mellado, Iñigo Martínez-Solano, Roberto Sindaco, Antonio Romano 2008. Chalcides chalcides. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.1. <http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/61473/0>. Downloaded on 13 April 2010.
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