Added 28 February 2014. Last updated 20 March 2014: added details to Introduction and updated Bibliography.
Found from south-eastern and eastern Europe across Asia Minor, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
Boulenger and Anderson give the characteristics for the genus as follows: palatine and pterygoid bones in contact mesially, palatal notch not extending forwards to between the centre of the eye; pterygoids toothless; maxillary teeth conical; no movable eyelids, eye being covered by a transparent disk created by fusing of lower and upper eyelids; outer ear opening small or absent; nostril pierced in the nasal; supranasals absent; limbs more or less developed; oviparous.
The genus has undergone some revision over the past decades, with a large number of species being split off into separate genera (e.g. Cryptoablepharus, Panaspis and others). Further details will be added to this page shortly.
Among herpetoculturists this genus does not seem to be kept often. Husbandry details for A. kitaibelli can be found in Rogner, and briefly in Zimmermann under the section on Chalcides bedriagai..
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QUICK INDEX |
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A. bivittatus, Two-Lined |
A. chernovi, Chernov's Skink |
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A. deserti, Desert Lidless Skink |
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A. kitaibelli, Juniper Skink, Snake-Eyed Skink |
A. lindbergi, Lindberg's Snake-Eyed Skink |
A. pannonicus, Asian Snake-Eyed Skink |
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A. rueppellii, Rueppel's Snake-Eyed Skink |
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Scientific Name |
Common Name |
Distribution |
Size |
Notes |
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Bartleia |
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Two-Lined Lidless Skink |
Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan |
TL 9½cm; SVL approx 4cm [NB: Anderson states SVL 5 (m) or 6 (f) cm |
Found in dry areas where it hides among shrubs if threatened. Scalation details: rostral largely in contact with frontonasal, does not project; prefrontals form median suture which nearly equals length of frontonasal; frontal large, as long as the frontoparietals and interparietal together, in contact with 1st and 2nd supraoculars; frontoparietals and interparietal distinct; 3 (sometimes 4) supraoculars, of which 1st largest; 5 supraciliaries, of which 1st largest; 2 or 3 pairs of nuchals; 4 supralabials before subocular; eye entirely surrounded by circle of granules or small scales, of which 3 on upper border are the largest; 2 minute lobules project anteriorly on ear opening; 22-25 scale rows at midbody; dorsals largest, lateral scales smallest; 2 very large preanals. Other: snout short, obtuse; ear opening small, suboval; limbs well developed, overlap when adpressed; digits obtusely keeled below . Coloration: bronze-olive above, with darker spots with light central shaft; dark band on either side, edged with a whitish streak below, running from nostril and through the eye; lower surfaces greenish-white. Reproduction: currently no details available. [SOURCE: Anderson, Boulenger] |
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Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon |
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Described in 1996-7: see Reptile Database entry. |
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A. b. budaki |
Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon |
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A. b. anatolicus |
Turkey |
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Chernov's Skink |
E Turkey, N Syria, Armenia [check with Engelmann] |
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Scalation details: 18-19 rows at midbody. Other: body slim; limbs short; ear opening absent, or only depression visible; Coloration: dorsally brown; 4 broken dark longitudinal lines; ventrally reddish-orange [SOURCE: Fuhn] |
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A. c. chernovi |
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A. c. eiselti |
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A. c. isauriensis |
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A. c. ressli |
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Tajikstan |
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Desert Lidless Skink |
S Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, E Turkmenistan, N Tadjikstan, Kyrgyzstan |
TL 11cm; SVL 4cm |
. Scalation details: rostral does not project; frontonasal in contact with rostral and frontal; frontal nearly as long as the frontoparietals and interparietal together, in contact with 1st and 2nd supraoculars; frontoparietals and interparietal distinct; 3 (sometimes 4) supraoculars, of which 1st largest; 5 supraciliaries, of which 2nd largest; 2 or 3 pairs of nuchals; 4 supralabials before subocular; eye entirely surrounded by circle of granules or small scales, upper border is very elongated; 20-22 scale rows at midbody; dorsals largest; 2 very large preanals. Other: snout short, obtuse; ear opening small, suboval; limbs short, do not meet when adpressed; digits smooth or obtusely keeled below . Coloration: bronze-olive above, either uniform or with 3 more or less distinct longitudinal dark brown dorsal lines; dark brown, light-edged band on either side, running from nostril and through the eye; lower surfaces greenish-white. Reproduction: currently no details available. [SOURCE: Boulenger] |
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Minor Lidless Skink |
Afghanistan, S Pakistan, SW India, |
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See discussion in Anderson. A. grayanus differs from A. pannonicus primarily in the absence of an external ear opening and lack of red tinge on undersurface of tail and legs. [SOURCE: Anderson] |
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Juniper Skink, Snake-Eyed Skink |
SE & E Europe, Greek islands and Middle East; see subspecies for further details |
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Reproduction: Zimmermann gives a clutch size of 4 and sexual maturity in 2 years. |
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A. k. kitaibelli |
Greece and Aegean islands inc. Rhodes, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Sinai peninsula |
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Scalation details: 3 front supralabials; 18 rows at midbody. Other: noticeably narrow form; head narrow; limbs thin, weak; 4th toe short. Coloration: dark or chocolate brown, without markings or only with fine points or dashes; ventrally black-grey-bluish [SOURCE: Fuhn] |
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A. k. fabichi |
Aegean islands east of Crete (Karpathos, Mikronisi, Kasos and Armathia) |
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Scalation details: 3 front supralabials; 20 rows at midbody. Other: large and robust in form; limbs noticeably long, strong; 4th toe long and thin. Coloration: light brownish-green with pearl sheen; 2-4 longitudinal rows of black-white flecks; ventrally black-grey-bluish . [SOURCE: Fuhn] |
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A. k. fitzingeri |
Slovakia, N Serbia, Hungary, Greece (inc. Corfu) |
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Scalation details: 4 front supralabials (occasionally reduced to 3 by fusion of supralabials 3 & 4); 20-22 rows at midbody. Other: large and robust in form; head noticeably broad; limbs short, strong; 4th toe short. Coloration: light, greenish sheen; 4-6 longitudinal rows of small white flecks bordered in black; ventrally black-grey-bluish. [SOURCE: Fuhn] |
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A. k. stepaneki |
Albania, Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania |
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Scalation details: 3 front supralabials; 20 rows at midbody. Other: large and robust in form; head broad; limbs strong; 4th toe short; Coloration: 2-4 longitudinal rows of black and white remnants of longitudinal lines; ventrally black-grey-bluish. [SOURCE: Fuhn] |
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Lindberg's Twin-Striped Skink, Lindberg's Snake-Eyed Skink |
W Afghanistan |
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Formerly considered a subspecies of A. bivittatus. |
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Asian Snake-Eyed Skink |
Iran, Iraq, Georgia, S Turkmenistan, S Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, W Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, NW India, Jordan, Syria, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman |
TL 10cm, SVL 5cm (Anderson states usually SVL 3½cm, TL 9½cm) |
Terrestrial, known to feed on small beetles, acridids and ants [Anderson]. Scalation details: rostral does not project; frontonasal in contact with rostral and frontal; prefrontals separated; frontal moderate, in contact with 1st and 2nd supraoculars; frontoparietals and interparietal distinct; 2 large supraoculars, of which 1st in contact with eye and preceded by 2 supraciliaries; 3 or 4 pairs of nuchals; 3 supralabials before subocular; eye incompletely surrounded granules; 2 minute lobules project anteriorly on ear opening; 20-22 scale rows at midbody; dorsals largest; 2 very large preanals. Other: body very elongate; snout short, obtuse; ear opening minute; limbs very short, widely separated when adpressed; digits obtusely keeled below . Coloration: bronze-olive above, either uniform or with 3 more or less distinct longitudinal dark brown dorsal lines; dark brown, light-edged band on either side, running from nostril and through the eye; lower surfaces greenish-white. Reproduction: currently no details available. [SOURCE: Anderson, Boulenger] |
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Rueppel's Snake-Eyed Skink |
Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria |
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A. r. rueppellii |
Egypt, Israel |
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A. r. festae |
Jordan, Lebanon, Syria |
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“Über die Unterarten von Ablepharus kitaibelli (Bibron & Bory de St. Vincent, 1833) (Sauria; Scincidae)”, Ion E Fuhn, Věstník Československé Společnosti Zoologické , Acta Societatis Zoolooicae Bohemoslovacae XXXIV, No. 1, 1970. Deals with the four subspecies of A. kitaibelli.