Mochlus is a genus of skinks, lizards in the family Scincidae. The genus is endemic to Africa.
Mochlus | |
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Sundevall's writhing skink (Mochlus s. sundevallii ) in the Soutpansberg, South Africa. | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Family: | Scincidae |
Subfamily: | Lygosominae |
Genus: | Mochlus Günther, 1864 |
Skinks of the genus Mochlus are cylindrical in shape and robust. They get the common name "writhing skinks" from the side-to-side movement that they make when held in the hand.[1]
Skinks in the genus Mochlus feed on insects and millipedes.[1]
The following 19 species are recognized as being valid.[2]
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Mochlus.
Günther A (1864). "Report on a Collection of Reptiles and Fishes made by Dr. Kirk in the Zambesi and Nyassa Regions". Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1864: 303–314. (Mochlus, new genus, p. 308).