Acontias aurantiacus

Acontias aurantiacus
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Scincidae
Genus:	Acontias
Species:	A. aurantiacus
Binomial name
	Acontias aurantiacus; (Peters, 1854)
Synonyms
	Typhline aurantiaca Peters, 1854 ; Typhlosaurus aurantiacus — Bauer, et al. 1995 ;

Acontias aurantiacus, the golden blind legless skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. It is found in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, and South Africa.^[1]^[2]

Three subspecies are recognized:^[2]

Acontias aurantiacus aurantiacus (Peters, 1854)
Acontias aurantiacus bazarutoensis Broadley, 1990 – Bazaruto Island, Mozambique
Acontias aurantiacus carolinensis Broadley, 1990 – Santa Carolina, Mozambique

Description

These are small to medium (69–216 mm snout-vent length) legless fossorial lizards with reduced eyes and pronounced rostral scales used in digging. The body is plain golden-yellow, with occasional melanistic or mottled individuals appearing in the population.^[2]^[3]

Former Subspecies

A. fitzsimonsi and A. parietalis were formerly considered subspecies of A. aurantiacus but were elevated to full species status in 2018.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b Conradie, W.; Verburgt, L.; Alexander, G.J.; Farooq, H.; Tolley, K.A.; Sardinha, C.I.V.; Raimundo, A. (2019). "Acontias aurantiacus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T44960171A44960177. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T44960171A44960177.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Acontias aurantiacus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 5 July 2019.
^ ^a ^b Pietersen, Darren W.; Scholtz, Clarke H.; Bastos, Armanda D. S. (2018-07-02). "Multi-locus phylogeny of southern African Acontias aurantiacus (Peters) subspecies (Scincidae: Acontinae) confirms the presence of three genetically, geographically and morphologically discrete taxa". Zootaxa. 4442 (3): 427–440. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4442.3.5. ISSN 1175-5334.

‌

This skink article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[iucn_status_18_November_2021-1] Conradie, W.; Verburgt, L.; Alexander, G.J.; Farooq, H.; Tolley, K.A.; Sardinha, C.I.V.; Raimundo, A. (2019). "Acontias aurantiacus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T44960171A44960177. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T44960171A44960177.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.

[RDB-2] Acontias aurantiacus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 5 July 2019.

[:0-3] Pietersen, Darren W.; Scholtz, Clarke H.; Bastos, Armanda D. S. (2018-07-02). "Multi-locus phylogeny of southern African Acontias aurantiacus (Peters) subspecies (Scincidae: Acontinae) confirms the presence of three genetically, geographically and morphologically discrete taxa". Zootaxa. 4442 (3): 427–440. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4442.3.5. ISSN 1175-5334.

[1]

[2]

[3]