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Patreon | Etsy

Italian Three-Toed Skink (Chalcides chalcides)

Family: Skink Family (Scincidae)

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Like several other species of lizard, the Italian Three-Toed Skink has adapted to move through areas covered with dense vegetation by developing an elongated, flexible, snake-like body with highly regressed limbs, although unlike many other "snake-like lizards" members of this species still possess four tiny limbs, each ending in a stumpy three-toed foot. Said limbs are far too small to support the skink's weight and serve no role in movement (which is achieved through an elegant snake-like slithering motion,) which has led many to question what purpose, if any, they serve; it is generally assumed that the limbs are vestigial and that, given sufficient time, the descendants of modern Italian Three-Toed Skinks will lose them entirely, although some herpetologists and evolutionary biologists have suggested that the continued existence of this species' limbs suggests that they must serve some function, such as being moved as part of a courtship display or allowing mating individuals to hold onto one another (although as these behaviours have never been observed these suggestions are entirely speculative.) Found in damp, well-vegetated areas across most of mainland Italy as well as Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and the nearby island of Sardinia, members of this species are diurnal, feed mainly on insects and breed during the spring; like most skinks, females of this species give birth to live young, with newborns, which resemble miniature adults, being independent immediately after birth.

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Mary Meyer Marshmallow animals:

Puppy, frog, + teddy

the eastern milksnake, Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum!

size: 24” - 36”(60cm - 36cm) description: Reddish-brown dorsal “saddles” or splotches with black bordering surrounded by tan or white scales, round pupils habitat: Found in forested areas, rocky hillsides, and near human settlements, especially those abundant with rodent activity. Can be found crossing roads at night and underneath rotting logs or damp trash behaviors: Small teeth and delicate jaws, captures and constricts prey with its jaws around it. Mostly feeds on rodents, but will also eat other snakes - including venomous ones! fun fact: they get their common name from the myth that they suck the milk out of human and cow mothers, as theyre commonly found in barns. this isnt true at all, though! snakes dont drink milk!