Haacke's legless skink explained

Haacke's legless skink (Typhlosaurus braini), also known commonly as Brain's legless skink and Brain's blind legless skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Namibia.

Etymology

The specific name, braini, is in honor of paleontologist Charles Kimberlin Brain.^[1]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of T. braini is desert, at altitudes of 50–.

Description

T. braini is limbless, slender, and uniformly light pink. Adults have a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 15–.^[2]

Behavior

Having no limbs, T. braini "swims" in sand dunes, both under the surface and at the surface.

Diet

The diet of T. braini consists of termites and insect larvae.^[2]

Reproduction

T. braini is viviparous.

Predators

T. braini is preyed upon by the Namib golden mole (Eremitalpa granti namibensis).^[2]

Further reading

• Broadley DG (1968). "A review of the African genus Typhlosaurus Wiegmann (Sauria: Scincidae)". Arnoldia (Rhodesia) 3 (36): 1–20.
• Haacke WD (1964). "Description of two new species of lizards and notes on Fitzsimonsia brevipes (FitzSimons) from the central Namib desert". Scientific Papers of the Namib Desert Research Station 25: 1–15. (Typhlosaurus braini, new species, p. 5).
• Haacke WD (1975). "Herpetological investigations in the sand sea of the southern Namib". Transvaal Museum Bulletin (15): 8–10.
• Lamb T, Biswas S, Bauer AM (2010). "A phylogenetic reassessment of African fossorial skinks in the subfamily Acontinae (Squamata: Scincidae): evidence for parallelism and polyphyly". Zootaxa 2657: 33–46.

Notes and References

1. [species:Bo Beolens|Beolens, Bo]
2. [William Roy Branch|Branch, Bill]