Chinese Skink

Inset: juvenile

Description: A large robust skink, reaching a total length of 35 cm; with a snout-vent length of 13 cm. Olive green or olive brown in colour, usually with numerous reddish or orange spots on the flanks. Scales smooth and glossy, with no keels. Head strongly triangular; very broad in adult males. Underside creamy or pale yellow. Young lizards jet-black or chocolate brown, with three light-coloured dorsal stripes, turquoise blue tail and white spots on the flanks forming a broken lateral stripe. Older juveniles have olive-coloured dorsum, with three pale dorsal stripes.

Habits and habitat: A diurnal species, frequently seen prowling in grassy or shrubby areas, in and around cultivated fields and on the edge of mangrove swamps. Also found hiding beneath stones and old disused boards. Primarily found in lowlands; also, though rarely, in hill and mountain grassland.

Diet: In captivity feeds on large insects including crickets, grasshoppers and cockroaches; also earthworms and snails. Gressitt (1941) records a wide variety of insect species in the stomach contents of this skink.

Reproduction: Oviparous, probably laying eggs in late spring. Young about 4 cm in length at hatching. Juveniles undergo a change in body colour as they grow to the adult form.

Distribution: Common in many cultivated areas of the New Territories, Lantau Island and Cheung Chau Island. A widely distributed and common species in southern China and Vietnam.

Diagnostic features: A fat skink; scales glossy, with no keels; back olive brown; orange-red spotting on flanks in front of and behind forelegs.