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Project Noah Nature School
Scincella cherriei
This is the first time in 30 years I have ever seen a Skink here in Chiapas. This one scurried out into the gravel and back into the undergrowth. It was extremely fast and moves more like a snake than a lizard. It was about 9 cm long. The legs are small with long toes. I think it is the "Escincela Parda" (in Spanish) because of the grey-blue tail and the tiny white spots on the sides above the front legs. Family Scincidae.
Humid forested area with lots of leaf litter within the grounds of the Hotel Bosques del Sol, San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, 2,200 meters.
For identification, I used the book by Miguel Alvarez del Toro "Los Reptiles de Chiapas", 3rd Edition, 1982, Instituto de Historia Natural del Estado de Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas. These Skinks are rarely seen because of their crepuscular to nocturnal activity, and because of their coloration similar to leaf litter. They feed on small insects. Their tails are supposed to be extremely fragile and will fall off at the slightest touch. In Chiapas, these are also called Salamanquesa. These pictures were taken with an iPhone. See also: "Comparative cytogenetics of two species of ground skinks: Scincella assata and S. cherriei (Squamata: Scincidae: Lygosominae) from Chiapas, Mexico" by Riccardo Castiglia et al. Acta Herpetologica 8(1): 69-73, 2013 and http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_qu....
Spotted on Jun 24, 2016
Submitted on Jul 4, 2016
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