Prefers lightly or heavily vegetated dunes and does not tolerate extreme aridity as Scincus scincus. Moves freely below and above the sand surface, leaving behind diagnostic tracks. Makes above-surface moves to cross longer distances. Ambushes surface-moving prey from below the sand, but will also search for subterranean prey (personal observations of captive and wild animals). Largely nocturnal in summer, but switches to diurnal activity during winter.
Least Concern
Small to medium-sized lizard, largest Egyptian specimen has a SVL of 116 mm. Body narrow and elongate, tail shorter than body and not much thinner, average tail/SVL ratio = 0.8. Usually 24-26 scales around mid-body. Limbs reduced, 5 very small digits present on all limbs. Snout wedge-shaped with sharp anterior edge, 3 supralabials anterior to eye (fourth enters eye); postnasals and a single median supranasal present; ear opening very close to gape angle, completely obscured by flap-like scales. Eye small, lower eyelids with translucent disc. Dorsal coloration plain sandy, often withnumerous (about 10) faint, dark longitudinal stripes, which are most obvious on the sacral area and the tail. A short black stripe extends from the nostril to the temporal region, supralabials white. Venter white.
Found in almost all suitable sandy biotopes north of latitude 28°N. Widespread in the western Mediterranean coastal plain from the western margins of the Delta to the borders with Libya. In the Western Desert it has been recorded in all the major oases (except Dakhla). In the Eastern Desert it occurs in the large wadis of the north, south to Wadi Araba, and locally along the Nile Valley margins to Luxor. In Sinai it is widespread in the north, extending to the head of the Gulf of Aqaba. Along the eastern coast of the Gulf of Suez it extends as far as Abu Rudeis but does not penetrate much into the mountainous block of the south, although Werner (1973) shows a collection locality only some 50 km northeast of St. Katherine.The southernmost known records come from Kharga and Luxor. A small isolated population is found in a limited and shrinking dune area west of Rosetta.
Eastern Libya, Egypt, Palestine, southern Israel, and Jordan.
A true psammophile. Restricted to sandy habitats, especially dunes, although is often found in fairly rocky areas or even mountainous regions, where it is confined to little patches of accumulated soft sand.
Fairly common and widespread. Habitat loss is posing an increasingly more serious threat to this and other dune-dwelling species. Dunes particularly in the neighborhood of oases and cultivated lands are often prime targets for agricultural expansion. Localized and potentially distinct populations, such as that near Rosetta are the most at risk.
The wedge-snouted skink (Chalcides sepsoides) is a common and widespread species of skink in the family Scincidae. It is found in Egypt,[2] Israel, Jordan, Libya, and the Palestinian territories. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, freshwater springs, hot deserts, and sandy shores. S. sepsoides is a viviparous species, and it is nocturnal during the summer and diurnal during the winter.
C. sepsoides is subarenaceous, and it moves very efficiently by "swimming" under the sand. In fact, it is rarely seen about the ground, and a common method of capturing specimens is to dig through sand dunes near the bases of bushes; this is because its main escape tactic is to dive into the sand. Its limbs are greatly reduced as an adaptation to this fossorial movement. As a result, it is often considered to be a sand specialist.
The species is threatened by habitat loss, overgrazing, and commercial collection, although none of these threats are considered to be very serious, and the species population is stable.
The wedge-snouted skink (Chalcides sepsoides) is a common and widespread species of skink in the family Scincidae. It is found in Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Libya, and the Palestinian territories. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, freshwater springs, hot deserts, and sandy shores. S. sepsoides is a viviparous species, and it is nocturnal during the summer and diurnal during the winter.
C. sepsoides is subarenaceous, and it moves very efficiently by "swimming" under the sand. In fact, it is rarely seen about the ground, and a common method of capturing specimens is to dig through sand dunes near the bases of bushes; this is because its main escape tactic is to dive into the sand. Its limbs are greatly reduced as an adaptation to this fossorial movement. As a result, it is often considered to be a sand specialist.
The species is threatened by habitat loss, overgrazing, and commercial collection, although none of these threats are considered to be very serious, and the species population is stable.
