the.com/skink
a lizard so committed to ditching legs it keeps reinventing the snake
means A skink is a smooth-scaled lizard of the family Scincidae, often with short or reduced legs and a glossy, streamlined body that lets it slip easily through grass and leaf litter.
from From Latin 'scincus', borrowed from Greek 'skinkos', the name for a North African lizard prized in old medicine and folklore. The word arrived in English in the 16th century, carrying its ancient pedigree along with the creature itself.
- detachable tail
- drops it to escape, regrows a cheaper version later
- blue blood
- some species pack toxic green-blue blood and bones
- leg optional
- many evolved tiny or zero limbs, slithering instead
- huge clan
- over 1,500 species, one of Earth's biggest lizard families
- live birth
- plenty skip eggs and bear live young
blue-tongued skink — australian lizard with distinctive blue tongue, common pet species
five-lined skink — most common skink in north america, found from great lakes to florida
giant african skink — largest skink species, native to west and central africa, up to 2.5 feet long