Formaly considered to be a subspecies of Chalcides chalcides which occupies areas to the east of Chalcides striatus.

A species of Chalcides, a genus of skinks found around much of southern Europe, Africa, Arabia and the Middle East and India.

Skinks in general are smooth-scaled, rather reclusive lizards that often exhibit varying degrees of limb reduction or limblessness.  This is the case with Chalcides striatus, whose limbs are so small in relation to its body that at first glance it appears to be totally limbless.  This is not the case, but the limbs are very reduced with only three toes on each.  This makes it easy for the observer to distinguish C. striatus from the other Iberian skink C. bedriagai, which although smaller has proportionately much more visible limbs.  In other aspects the two Iberian skinks are similar, namely in having smooth dorsal and ventral scales all of the same size.  In coloration Chalcides striatus is overall brown, olive or bronze, becoming lighter in the lower areas, with 9 (sometimes 11) longitudinal darker brownish lines running along the back to form a subtle pattern.  Head scales are dark-edged. Ventral coloration (ie the belly and undersides) is white or grey.  The ear is much larger than the nostril.  The slowworm Anguis fragilis is somewhat similar in appearance but totally lacks limbs.  As with nearly all legless or almost legless lizards, C. striatus can be distinguished from snakes by its eyelids and visible ear openings, features that all snakes lack.

Scalation details are as follows: frontal very large, longer than wide: parietals shorter than frontal; nasal elongated, reaches loreal: supranasals distinct: 4 supraciliaries: 1 postnasal: nostril usually precedes join between rostral and 1st supralabial: usually 5 supralabials, of which 4th touches the eye socket: usually 4 infralabials.  There are 20-26 (usually 22-24) scale rows in the middle of the body.

At its largest C. striatus measures about 48 cm, of which more than half may be the tail if unregenerated (ie not broken off).  However, regenerated tails are quite common in this species, a study in France finding that in one population over half displayed this characteristic.  Normally this is due to either escape from predators or aggression between individuals of the same species.  It is fairly intolerant of cold temperatures, for this reason C. striatus tends to emerge somewhat later in the year than other species in the same area and thus avoiding the wind.

This species is found in most areas of Spain and Portugal, apart from some eastern parts of the peninsula.  It is typically found in meadows and pastureland, in some places as high as 2,300m (1,800m in Europe), although it is less common at such altitudes.  Grassland is often the habitat of lizards with similarly reduced limbs and a long body since this shape enables them to “swim” through grass.  Indeed, despite their appearance, the species is quite fast and agile in both escape and pursuit.  This species' habitat is also usually characterised by dense undergrowth, including fields near streams, fallow fields and hedges, and in the west of its range it is also found in drier habitats such as sand covered with gorse. Generally the habitats need not be overly warm as long as they are sunny.  Refuge is sought in the undergrowth, under rocks or in holes in the ground.

Although there are no scientifically recognised variations in the Iberian populations at any rate, one authority noted that Iberian and southern French populations tend to have relatively larger limbs.

The Western Three-Toed Skink's diet consists of a wide range of various arthropods including spiders, grasshoppers and crickets, flies, the larvae of butterflies and moths, ants and others.

Breeding:  depending on the location, C. striatus emerge from their winter rest between February and the beginning of April.  Courtship normally commences shortly thereafter but has been observed as late as the beginning of May.  Chalcides are ovoviviparous, ie eggs are not laid but instead the young develop internally and emerge from the mother in thin membranes which they then split open and leave.  Although efficient in protecting the eggs, this system is quite demanding on the mother who may sometimes die in the process.  From 1 to 15 young are born this way, in Europe usually in the period June to August.  Sexual maturity is reached in the third or fourth year.

In May the skinks are active most of the day, but from the end of June to August prefer to be active early in the morning, becoming less active during the summer.  Around the end of September and beginning of October they seek holes in the ground for winter dormancy.

The Western Three-Toed Skink appears to be fairly abundant in its range and therefore less endangered by human activity than some other creatures.  However, the erroneous belief in some areas that the species is venomous may lead to human persecution.  In Iberia it does have a fair number of predators including several birds of prey and the Grass Snake (Natrix natrix), Southern Smooth Snake (Coronella girondica) and the Montpellier Snake (Malpolon monspessulanus), plus the Common Genet (Genetta genetta), European Polecat (Putorius putorius) and Least Weasel (Mustella nivalis).

CREDITS

Special  thanks for the writing of this article go to Cyberlizard, visit this link for more information including care of lizards and amphibians in captivity.

Special thanks for providing these images goes to Juan Pablo González de la Vega. See his website on Herpetology in Andalusia through this link  (In Spanish) with many more superb images.

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