Sudan Mabuya

About the Sudan Mabuya

Trachylepis brevicollis, the short-necked skink or Sudan mabuya, is a species of skink in the family Scincidae. It is distributed across northeastern and eastern Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The species was originally described by Wiegmann in 1837 as Euprepes brevicollis.

It was later placed in the genus Mabuya before being transferred to the genus Trachylepis following taxonomic revision of African mabuyine skinks. The specific epithet brevicollis is derived from Latin, meaning “short-necked”, referring to the species’ relatively stout neck.

Trachylepis brevicollis is a relatively large and robust skink, reaching a snout–vent length of approximately 140 mm. The body is cylindrical with well-developed limbs. Dorsal and lateral scales are strongly keeled, often with double keels, giving the skin a rough texture. The neck is not particularly short, but the head is short and broad with five supralabial scales anterior to the eye, and the first supraocular scale contacts the frontal scale. The eye is large with a round pupil. The tail is about half the skink's total length and is stout at its base.

Adult size may reach up to... Wikipedia →