Rainbow Mabuya

Trachylepis margaritifera

The Rainbow Mabuya or Rainbow Skink is a species of Afro-Malagasy mabuya or skink in the subfamily Lygosominae.
Rainbow_Skink2 Taken in Kruger National park, South Africa. South Africa

Appearance

''Trachylepis margaritifera'' is a medium sized lizard reaching a length of about 20 centimetres . The coloration of this species is quite variable, depending on the gender and the age. The scales are glossy, with metallic reflections. The basic colour is usually olive-brown or dark brown, sometimes with pearly whitish spots and with three light yellow-orange longitudinal stripes running from the head to the electric blue tail. These stripes may fade and become indistinct in the adults.

The head shows a pointed snout and clearly visible ears holes. Just behind the ear opening, there are some black spots. Legs are dark brown, short and strong, with relatively long toes. The flanks are mainly yellowish and the underside of the body is whitish.
Rainbow_Skink1 Taken in Kruger National Park, South Africa. Rainbow Mabuya,South Africa,Trachylepis margaritifera

Distribution

It is found in southern Africa, from KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa to southern Malawi; isolated populations occur in central to southeastern Tanzania and southern Kenya.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionChordata
ClassReptilia
OrderSquamata
FamilyScincidae
GenusTrachylepis
SpeciesT. margaritifera
Photographed in
South Africa