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Desert Rainbow Skink
Carlia triacantha
The desert rainbow-skink (Carlia triacantha) is an Australian skink in the genus Carlia, commonly known as four-fingered skinks, from the subfamily Lygosominae. It is native to desert woodland regions throughout most of the Northern Territory, the north of Western Australia, and the far north-west of South Australia. It was originally classified as Leiolopisma triacantha, and is sometimes known as the three-spined rainbow-skink.
From the article Desert rainbow-skink on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
The desert rainbow-skink is on average 5.3 centimetres (2.1 in) long, excluding the tail. It is characterised by three keels or spines on the dorsal scales. It is typically a mid-brown to grey-brown colour with less pigmentation on the ventral surface, but males display extra colouration, particularly during breeding season. Desert rainbow-skinks shelter in woodland leaf litter, feeding mainly on invertebrates. Their large eyes help them to see their prey in the dim lighting of the leaf litter, and the eyes are covered by an eyelid with a transparent window that protects the eye while burrowing in the litter.
What it does
The desert rainbow-skink is an egg-laying or oviparous reptile. It has an average clutch size of two eggs. During breeding season males of the species display blue-green colouring on the head and red flanks.
== References ==
Wikipedia: “Reproduction”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Carlia triacantha in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 37250.