Added 28 December 2025.
The genus Barkudia is a small genus of legless skinks from India.
Annandale gave the characteristics of the genus as follows: the palatine bones do not meet in the median line of the palate, which is toothless. The teeth are conical. The eye is very small and surrounded by relatively large scales; the lower eye-lid is scaly, the upper eye-lid not developed. The ear-opening is distinct but minute. The nostril is situated in a distinct nasal: it is remote from the first labial and separated from the rostral by a rounded tubercle. Three azygous shields exist on the top of the head; there are no prefrontals or frontoparietals. The body is elongate and snake-like, with no external trace of limbs.
These lizards are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and their natural history is still obscure. For these reasons they are understandably unlikely to be seen in captivity other than for genuine research and conservation efforts.
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QUICK INDEX |
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B. insularis, Madras Spotted Skink |
B. melanosticta, Visakhapatnam Legless Skink |
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Scientific Name |
Common Name |
Distribution |
Size |
Notes |
Barkudia |
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Madras Spotted Skink |
India (Barkuda Island in Madras) |
TL approx 16.5 cm, SVL approx 10-14.5 cm |
An extremely rare species. Description: the head is small, somewhat flattened above, triangular, but with the snout bluntly rounded in front; the snout projects far beyond the lower jaw. The ear-opening is located some distance behind the gap and is provided with minute lobules. Anterior lobe of tongue not differentiated. Teeth: palatal teeth absent. Scalation details: rostral large, the portion seen from above being considerably longer than the suture between the supranasals; frontonasal somewhat longer than the rostral, bluntly pointed in front, transverse, heptagonal; frontal broader than long and angularly emarginate laterally by the second supraocular; interparietal is broader than long, emarginate anteriorly, hexagonal, larger than either the frontonasal or the frontal. The rostral extends beneath the nasal to the first labial; four upper labials are present, the second being the largest and the third entering the orbit; there are two scales between the orbit and the supranasals, both considerably larger than the nasal. 3 supraoculars but no true superciliaries: a single relatively large scale intervenes between the second and third supraoculars and the orbit. A small subocular is present near the anterior margin of the orbit, and a larger preocular above it; there are two postoculars. Ear: the ear-opening is situated some distance behind the gape and is provided with minute lobules.. Scalation details: 5 supraciliaries. Dorsal smooth scales in 24-32 rows at midbody. 57-66 paravertebral scale rows. Reproduction: 3-8 eggs per clutch. [SOURCE: Annandale, Das] |
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Visakhapatnam Legless Skink |
SE India (Andhra Pradesh) |
TL 10.5”; SVL 16-16.5 cm |
Like its congeneric, this species has a restricted range, being found near Visakhapatnam in the coastal region. Description: head elongated, narrow, depressed, indistinct from neck; snout long, longer than eye diameter, projecting beyond mandible; parietal eye absent. Body slender and elongate. Ear-opening lacks lobules. Anterior lobe of tongue distinctly narrowed. Teeth: palatal teeth present. Scalation details: rostral emarginate laterally, contacting supranasals posteriorly; rostral large, lacking rostral groove, wider than deep, contacted posteriorly by 2 nasals and 2 semicircular supranasals; 3 supraoculars, of which II and III are largest; scales on forehead and snout smooth; 4 supralabials, 4 infralabials; lower eyelids scaly; 2 postoculars; 1 anterior and 2 posterior temporals; 3 anals, smooth; preanal not enlarged, overlapped by last ventral; ventrals 143-145; scale rows at midbody 20. Coloration: (in alcohol) dorsally yellowish-brown, turning chestnut brown towards the posterior half of the tail; tail tip dark brown dorsally and ventrally, with pale yellow spot on ventrum; ventrum of body uniform yellow-cream; (in life) usually glossy brown with a black spot in the middle of each scale. [SOURCE: Das] |
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“IV. A new genus of limbless skinks from an island in the Chilka Lake”, N Annandale, Records of the Indian Museum 13, 1917.
“Anguis melanostictus Schneider, 1801, a Valid Species of Barkudia (Sauria: Scincidae) from Southeastern India”, Indraneil Das, Asiatic Herpetological Research 8, 1999.