The Cape Skink is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of skink

Skink

Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae. Together with several other lizard families, including Lacertidae , they comprise the superfamily or infraorder Scincomorpha...

 in the subfamily Lygosominae

Lygosominae

Lygosominae is the largest subfamily of skinks in the family Scincidae. The subfamily can be divided into a number of genus-groups. If the rarely used taxonomic rank of infrafamily is employed, the genus-groups would be designated as such, but such a move would require a formal description...

. It is indigenous to Southern Africa

Southern Africa

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...

 and is often seen in suburban gardens where it tames easily.

Naming

It is commonly known as the Cape Skink or Cape Three-lined Skink and it has recently be assigned to the genus Trachylepis - previously it was classed in the Mabuya genus.

Appearance

The Cape Skink is a large (sometimes quite fat) skink, with three stripes running down its back. Its skin is olive-brown to gray, and between the stripes and on its flanks are lots of small dark spots. The belly is greyish white. Occasionally the stripes on the back can be quite pale.
Its body is rather elongated and the limbs are short.

Distribution

This lizard is indigenous to South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 and can be found throughout most of the country. They also occur in Botswana

Botswana

Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...

 and Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

, and a few isolated (probably relict

Relict

A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon.* In biology a relict is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas....

) populations have been found in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...

.

Biology

It is still common in suburban gardens across South Africa and because of this, the Cape skink is probably the best known lizard in the country. Furthermore, in the presence of humans it gradually becomes domesticated and after some time it can become sufficiently trusting to eat out of one’s hand. Consequently it is becoming increasingly popular as a pet, whether kept in a formal UV-fitted vivarium

Vivarium

A vivarium is a usually enclosed area for keeping and raising animals or plants for observation or research...

 or allowed to roam free in a garden. Tame individuals have a tendency to become quite overweight. The increasingly dense populations of domestic cats being kept as pets in suburban areas have unfortunately led to the extermination of this little forager from much of its natural range, as these introduced predators

Introduced species

An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...

 will typically kill all the skinks in the immediate area. Its natural predators in the wild include the Fiscal Shrike and various snake

Snake

Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...

s.

For a home, the Cape skink usually digs itself a small tunnel at the foot of a boulder or tree, but anything that it can hide under is used as a temporary shelter. In its natural habitat it is considerably more shy, though it can often be heard as it scuttles away through the bushes. This species of skink is live-bearing and gives birth to litters of about a dozen babies.