NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Giant Lance Skink
Acontias plumbeus Bianconi, 1849
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 plumbeus, the giant legless skink or giant lance skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. It is found in South Africa, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.
Acontias plumbei live in seasonally dry savanna, woodland humus, and forest floor leaf litter throughout South Africa ranging from Eastern Cape to Zimbabwe.
It was previously believed that acontias plumbeus had no genetic variation and existed as a monotypic species, however the genetic structure analysis has revealed that acontias poecilus are morphological variations of acontias plumbeus. Its morphological variation now appends species of different colors including uniform light brown, dark brown, black, and intermediate gray.
Wikipedia contributors, Acontias plumbeus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:10:28.022936+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Acontias plumbeus Bianconi, 1849
- Name authority
- Bianconi, 1849
- Common name
- Giant Lance 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 plumbeus Bianconi, 1849
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 |
|---|---|
| Acontias plumbea Bianconi, 1850 Bianconi, 1850 | synonym |
| Acontias poecilus Bourquin & Lambiris, 1996 Bourquin & Lambiris, 1996 | synonym |
| Acontias niger Peters, 1854 Peters, 1854 | 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=plumbeus 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:9H78. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.