| Mochlus | |
|---|---|
) | |
| Sundevall's writhing skink (Mochlus s. sundevallii ) in the Soutpansberg, South Africa. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Scincidae |
| Subfamily: | Lygosominae |
| Genus: | Mochlus Günther, 1864 |
Mochlus is a genus of skinks, lizards in the family Scincidae. The genus is endemic to Africa.
Description
Skinks of the genus Mochlus are cylindrical in shape and robust. They get the common name "writhing skinks" from the side-to-side movement that they make when held in the hand.[1]
Diet
Skinks in the genus Mochlus feed on insects and millipedes.[1]
Species
The following 18 species are recognized as being valid.[2]
- Mochlus brevicaudis (Greer, Grandison & Barbault, 1985)
- Mochlus fernandi (Burton, 1836) – fire skink
- Mochlus grandisonianus Lanza & Carfi, 1966 – Lanza's writhing skink
- Mochlus guineensis (W. Peters, 1879) – Guinean forest skink
- Mochlus hinkeli Wagner, Böhme, Pauwels & Schmitz, 2009 – Hinkel’s red-sided skink, Hinkel’s red-flanked skink
- Mochlus laeviceps (W. Peters, 1874) – common writhing skink
- Mochlus mabuiiformis (Loveridge, 1935) – Mabuya-like writhing skink
- Mochlus mafianus (Broadley, 1994) – mafia writhing skink
- Mochlus mocquardi (Chabanaud, 1917) – Mocquard's writhing skink[3]
- Mochlus paedocarinatus Lanza & Carfi, 1968 – Lanza's writhing skink, Abyssinian writhing skink
- Mochlus pembanus Boettger, 1913 – Pemba Island writhing skink
- Mochlus productus (Boulenger, 1909) – Boulenger's writhing skink
- Mochlus simonettai (Lanza, 1979) – Simonetta's writhing skink
- Mochlus somalicus (Parker, 1942) – Somali writhing skink
- Mochlus striatus (Hallowell, 1854)
- Mochlus sundevallii (A. Smith, 1849) – Sundevall's writhing skink
- Mochlus tanae (Loveridge, 1935) – Loveridge's writhing skink, Tana River writhing skink
- Mochlus vinciguerrae (Parker, 1932) – Vinciguerra's writhing skink
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Mochlus.
References
- ^ a b Alexander, Graham; Marais, Johan (2008). A Guide to the Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik Publishers. 408 pp. ISBN 978-1-77007-386-9. ("Writhing Skinks", pp. 247-248).
- ^ Genus Mochlus at The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- ^ 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. (Lygosoma mocquardi, p. 181).
Further reading
Günther A (1864). "Report on a Collection of Reptiles and Fishes made by Dr. Kirk in the Zambesi and Nyassa Regions". Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1864: 303–314. (Mochlus, new genus, p. 308).