NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Cape Legless Skink
Acontias meleagris (Linnaeus, 1758)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Acontias meleagris, or the Cape legless skink, is a species of skink found in the southern Cape of South Africa. It has no limbs, like most members of the subfamily Acontinae.
Wikipedia contributors, Acontias meleagris; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:13:50.878012+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Acontias meleagris (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- Cape Legless Skink
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Scincidae
- Genus
- Acontias
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderAutarchoglossa
- familyScincidae
- subfamilyAcontiinae
- genusAcontias
- speciesAcontias meleagris (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Acontias. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Wood-bush Legless SkinkAcontias rieppeli (Lamb, Biswas & Bauer, 2010) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| White-throated Legless SkinkAcontias albigularis Conradie, Busschau & Edwards, 2018 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| FitzSimon's Legless SkinkAcontias fitzsimonsi (Broadley, 1968) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Wakkerstroom Legless SkinkAcontias wakkerstroomensis Conradie, Busschau & Edwards, 2018 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Stripe-bellied Legless SkinkAcontias subtaeniatus (Broadley, 1968) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Acontias bicolor (Hewitt, 1929) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Shorthead Lance SkinkAcontias breviceps Essex, 1925 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cregoe's Legless SkinkAcontias cregoi (Boulenger, 1903) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mier Kalahari Legless SkinkAcontias gariepensis (Fitzsimons, 1941) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Slendertail Lance SkinkAcontias gracilicauda Essex, 1925 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Japp’s Burrowing SkinkAcontias jappi (Broadley, 1968) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kalahari Burrowing SkinkAcontias kgalagadi (Lamb, Biswas & Bauer, 2010) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Anguis meleagris Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Acontias&species=meleagris Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:9H6W. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.