According to a recent publication by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), India is home to 62 species of skinks and 33 species (about 57 per cent of all the skinks) found in India are endemic.
- It is the first monograph on this group of lizards, which are found in all kinds of habitats in the country, from the Himalayas to the coasts and from dense forests to the deserts.
- These species are found in all the 11 bio-geographic zones of India .
- Skinks are highly alert, agile and fast moving and actively forage for a variety of insects and small invertebrates.
- The reduced limbs of certain skink species or the complete lack of them make their slithering movements resemble those of snakes.
- With 1,602 species of skinks across the world, making it the largest family of lizards, their occurrence in India is less than 4 % of the global diversity.
(Source: The Hindu)
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