Trachylepis varia
The Variable Skink is a lizard found in grassland and savanna habitats, and especially rocky areas there-in, and distributed (in South Africa) from the coastal Eastern Cape through Kwazulu-Natal, the Free State and Gauteng to the North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo. They feed on insects and other invertebrates. Females give birth to as many as 10 babies in the summer months. They grow quickly; maturing at about 8 months of age (when they measure around 6cm in length, tail excluded) with a life expectancy of only about two years, or even less.
Variable skink
Variable Skink
Variable Skink
Variable Skink
Variable Skink
Variable Skink
Variable Skink
Variable Skink
Variable Skink
Variable Skink
DeWetsWild 
Beautiful skinks. I was also interested to hear that their life expectancy is about two years.
And I’m sure it’s a relatively small percentage of them that even reach that age, given all the dangerous predators that share their habitat
That is for sure.
Gives me some idea though of the likely “turnover” of the striped skinks that hang out around our house – those that manage to avoid predators that is.
I watched, with quite some amazement, the speed at which the speckled skinks in our garden grew during the lockdown!
Any idea why it’s called “variable?”
janet
They sport a wide range of colouration on the back and tail, Janet, even in the same population – the only constant characteristic all members of the species share is the bright white line down the side all the way to the back legs.
Good to see. This is another area I know very little about so enjoy learning from you.
I’m also learning as I go along, Anne – our reptiles do not get nearly as much attention as they should.
I’ve never seen a skink like that before. Thank you, D. for bringing me up to date. 🙂
You are too kind, H.J. – I think there are many more South African species that I haven’t even seen yet; we can learn about them all together.
Handsome lizard. Their short lifespan: is that typical of lizards?
Generally, Hien, the larger the lizard the longer their life expectancy.
This is a really interesting looking lizard!
I quite agree, Takami – thank you!