Endangered
Gran Canaria Skink
Chalcides sexlineatus
Gran Canaria Skink is a skink in the family Scincidae — Chalcides sexlineatus, recorded as Endangered.
Appearance
The south subspecies has one phrenocular scale, while the north usually has two. It has a black dorsolaetral band, separated from the side by a whitish or yellowish line. On the back there are four yellowish brown lines.
The average total body length is around 150mm (6 inches) among them the tail, with females being a few millimeters longer on average.
Range and habitat
It is abundant in nearly all habitats throughout Gran Canaria, from coastal areas, temperate forest and grassland, rocky peaks, and agricultural areas, though it is rarer in pine forests and the drier areas of the south. Breeding occurs in July and August, and they give birth to 2–7 starting in September. It is endemic to Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands.
As of 2021, the kingsnake had spread to 50% of the island, with Gran Canaria Skink populations decreased in areas where the snake occurred.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet
Most skinks forage in leaf litter or under cover. Burrowing species slip through sand or soil more than they climb.
In crisis
In 2022, the IUCN Red List updated the Gran Canaria skink's status to Endangered. Feral cats and collection for the pet trade are also minor threats.
Gran Canaria Skink is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Gran Canaria Skink, Wikidata item Q1519639. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
