Trachylepis striata

The African striped skink (Trachylepis striata), commonly called the striped skink, is a species of lizard in the skink family (Scincidae). The species is widespread in East Africa and Southern Africa. It is not a close relation to the Australian striped skink, Ctenotus taeniolatus.

Hunting a juvenile southern tree agama. The attempt was unsuccessful.

African striped skink
in Eswatini
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Scinciformata
Infraorder:	Scincomorpha
Family:	Mabuyidae
Genus:	Trachylepis
Species:	T. striata
Binomial name
Trachylepis striata (W. Peters, 1844)
Synonyms[1]
Tropidolepisma striatum W. Peters, 1844 Mabuia striata — Boulenger, 1895 Mabuya striata — V. FitzSimons & Brain, 1958 Euprepes striata — Mausfeld et al., 2002 Trachylepis striata — Bauer, 2003

Description

T. striata is brown or bronze-coloured with two yellowish stripes that run lengthwise on either side of the spine. Both sexes grow to a total length (including tail) of 25 cm (9.8 in).^[2] Their tails are often missing due to predators.

Geographic range and subspecies

Former subspecies T. s. punctatissima, T. s. sparsa, and T. s. wahlbergii have been elevated to species level.^[3]