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Kasner's dwarf burrowing skink

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Kasner's dwarf burrowing skink
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Scelotes
Species:
S. kasneri
Binomial name
Scelotes kasneri

Kasner's dwarf burrowing skink (Scelotes kasneri), also known commonly as Kasner's burrowing skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species endemic to South Africa.

Geographic range

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S. kasneri is indigenous to the Western Cape coast of South Africa.[1][2]

Habitat

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The preferred natural habitat of S. kasneri is dunes and sandy soil, at elevations from sea level to 300 m (980 ft).[1]

Description

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The limbs of S. kasneri are greatly reduced. The forelimbs are entirely lost, and each hind limb retains only two digits.[2]

Behavior

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S. kasneri is terrestrial and fossorial.[1]

Reproduction

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S. kasneri is ovoviviparous.[2]

Etymology

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The specific name, kasneri, as well as the common names, are in honor of J.H. Kasner, collector of the type specimen.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Conradie, W.; Bauer, A.M.; Pietersen, D.; Alexander, G.J.; Tolley, K.A.; Weeber, J. (2022). "Scelotes kasneri ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T19954A197401561. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Scelotes kasneri at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 18 January 2015.
  3. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Scelotes kasneri, p. 138).

Further reading

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  • 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. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. (Scelotes kasneri, p. 144 + Plate 48).
  • Heideman, Neil J.L.; Mulcahy, Daniel G.; Sites, Jack W. Jr.; Hendricks, Martin G.J.; Daniels, Savel R. (2011). "Cryptic diversity and morphological convergence in threatened species of fossorial skinks in the genus Scelotes (Squamata: Scincidae) from the Western Cape Coast of South Africa: Implications for species boundaries, digit reduction and conservation". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 61 (3): 823–833.
  • FitzSimons VFM (1939). "Descriptions of some new species and subspecies of lizards from South Africa". Annals of the Transvaal Museum 20 (1): 5–16. (Scelotes kasneri, new species, p. 13).