Ocellated Skink
Chalcides ocellatus
Where is it found?
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Deserts, scrubland, farmland and urban parks and gardens.
Diet and foraging method
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Actively hunts insects and sometimes grazes on vegetation.
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Key adaptations
Ocellated skinks range in colour from yellowish-green to grey, with a distinctive band of eyespots across their back, making them well camouflaged in a range of environments. Their elongated body shape allows them to have a high proportion of their body surface in contact with the ground, in order to warm up.
Social organisation and mating system
N/A
Did you know that...?
Ocellated skinks can lose their tail escape predators, and grow a new one!
Taxonomy
Picture credits:
Maps from: http://species.mol.org/species/
"BennyTrapp Chalcides ocellatus ocellatus Peloponnes Griechenland" by Benny Trapp - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BennyTrapp_Chalcides_ocellatus_ocellatus_Peloponnes_Griechenland.jpg#/media/File:BennyTrapp_Chalcides_ocellatus_ocellatus_Peloponnes_Griechenland.jpg
"Chalcides ocellatus 01" by HTO - Own work (own photo). Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chalcides_ocellatus_01.JPG#/media/File:Chalcides_ocellatus_01.JPG
"BennyTrapp Chalcides ocellatus ocellatus Peloponnes Griechenland" by Benny Trapp - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BennyTrapp_Chalcides_ocellatus_ocellatus_Peloponnes_Griechenland.jpg#/media/File:BennyTrapp_Chalcides_ocellatus_ocellatus_Peloponnes_Griechenland.jpg
"Chalcides ocellatus 01" by HTO - Own work (own photo). Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chalcides_ocellatus_01.JPG#/media/File:Chalcides_ocellatus_01.JPG