East Indian Brown Mabuya, Many-lined Sun Skink or Common Sun Skink, Mabuya multifasciata

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Sauria
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Mabuya
Species: M. multifasciata
Binomial name: Mabuya multifasciata

Distribution: From India (Assam) to S China, China (Taiwan, Hainan, Yunnan) Thailand (incl. Phuket), Myanmar (= Burma), Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysian Peninsula, Pulau Tioman, Johor: Pulau Besar, Pulau Sibu, Singapore, Indonesia (Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Bali), New Guinea, Philippine Islands (Negros, Panay, Palawan: Calamian Islands, Luzon)

_The species ranges throughout Southeast Asia, including the whole of Indochina and as far east as the island of Timor.
Skinks are characterized by their smooth, scaled skins, and small legs.
Mainly terrestrial and diurnal, they are to be found basking in the sun along forest tracks or on tree trunks.

_The Many-lined or Common Sun Skink can be identified by the five or seven dark lines on its ventral surface parallel to its body line.
Older, larger specimens are commonly found lacking the thick tail.

_It inhabits primary and secondary forests, and is often found on the forest floor where the sun breaks through the canopy.
However it can also be found close to villages and along river banks.

_The color of the flanks can vary from an olive-brown (right) to a reddish-orange (upper left).
Throat color can vary from white to yellow (bottom left). It feeds mainly on insects and gives birth to live young. 

_The species ranges from India, southern China, Burma, Thailand and Indochina down through Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, to Sumatra, Borneo, Java and other islands of Indonesia and the Philippines.

_Skinks are characterized by their smooth, scaled skins, and small legs. Mainly terrestrial and diurnal, they are to be found basking in the sun along forest tracks or on tree trunks.

Redactie: info(at)rijskamp.com                           
Cagayan de Oro June 22, 2007

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