Chalcides chalcides

Description

The Italian three-toed skink or just the three-toed skink (Chalcides chalcides) is a species of lizard found from Italy (including Sicily, Sardinia and Elba), to northern Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. It is common in some locations and is usually found in sunny areas with dense vegetation (usually grass up to 40 cm of height) but can also be found in arid areas. They reach about 48 cm in length, out of which the tail constitutes more than half. Its body is long and snake-like, coloured usually between brown and olive and may have dark stripes on the back. Each of the highly reduced legs has three fingers. These skinks are active during daytime and prey mainly on insects. Females of the species give birth to live young. The population of this skink is slowly declining, but it has some tolerance to habitat modification.