Scincus scincus
{{Short description|Species of lizard}}
{{italic title}}
{{speciesbox
| image = Apothekerskink01.jpg
| genus = Scincus
| species = scincus
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
}}
Scincus scincus, also commonly known as the sandfish skink, common sandfish or common skink, is a species of skink notable for its burrowing or swimming behaviour in sand.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/science/21obsand.html?hpw | work=The New York Times | title=A Saharan Lizard Is a Sand Swimmer | first=Henry | last=Fountain | date=2009-07-21 | access-date=2010-05-23}} It is native to the Sahara Desert and the Arabian Peninsula,{{Cite web|date=2008-10-14|title=How 'Sandfish' Swim: Could Help Materials Handling And Process Technology Specialists|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081003122547.htm|access-date=2021-05-08|website=Science Daily|language=en|via=PLoS}}{{Cite web|last=Malhotra|first=Richa|date=2016-11-16|title=How the sandfish lizard stays sand-free|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/how-sandfish-lizard-stays-sand-free|access-date=2021-05-08|website=Science Mag|language=en}} but is also kept as a pet elsewhere.{{Cite web|last=Hj Rosli|first=Syazwani|date=2020-07-13|title=BKC Abuzz After Vendors' Return|url=https://borneobulletin.com.bn/bkc-abuzz-after-vendors-return-2/|access-date=2021-05-08|website=Borneo Bulletin Online|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|date=2008-10-05|title=Sandfish Ability to Swim Desert May Lead to New Technologies|url=https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2008/10/05/sandfish-ability-to-swim-desert-may-lead-to-new-technologies/|access-date=2021-05-08|website=National Geographic Society Newsroom|language=en-US}}
Description
The name Algerian sandfish originated because of its ability to move through sand as if it were swimming.
Adult common skinks usually reach about 20 cm (8 inches) in length, including the short tail.{{Cite web|last=Hulick|first=Kathryn|date=2021-02-25|title=What is a Sandfish? (with picture)|url=http://www.allthingsnature.org/what-is-a-sandfish.htm|access-date=2021-05-08|website=All Things Nature|language=en-US}}
The common skink has developed a unique way of dealing with the desert heat: it can dive into loose, soft sand. Its winding movements produce vibrations in the sand, with a consistent frequency of 3 Hz. It does this to prevent its body from overheating and to escape potential predators, such as the Saharan Sand Viper (Cerastes vipera) {{Cite journal|last1=Wu|first1=Weibin|last2=Lutz|first2=Christian|last3=Mersch|first3=Simon|last4=Thelen|first4=Richard|date=October 2018|title=Characterization of the microscopic tribological properties of sandfish ( Scincus scincus ) scales by atomic force microscopy|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328029805|journal=Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology|volume=9|issue=1|pages=2618–2627|doi=10.3762/bjnano.9.243|pmid=30416912|pmc=6204795|via=ResearchGate|doi-access=free}}
This skink has a long, wedge-shaped snout with a countersunk lower jaw, shaped much like a basket. Its compact, tapered body is covered with smooth, shiny scales that may appear oily to the untrained eye, and its legs are short and sturdy with long, flattened and fringed shovel-like feet. The tail is short, tapering to a fine point. The coloration of this species is considered attractive, being yellow-caramel with brown-black cross bands. This lizard also has bead-like eyes so it can close them to keep sand out of its eyes. Similarly, its nostrils are very small to keep all of the sand out of its nose and lungs.
The skink plays a small yet significant role in 13th century Islamic mythology originating in Algeria. To this day, nomadic tribes of the region believe that the skink's ability to avoid predators by diving into sand is a blessing that protects them from dangers of the desert and often keep the animal as a pet.
X-ray imaging{{cite journal|last1=Maladen|first1=R. D.|last2=Ding|first2=Y.|last3=Li|first3=C.|last4=Goldman|first4=Daniel Ivan|author4-link=Daniel I. Goldman|title=Undulatory Swimming in Sand: Subsurface Locomotion of the Sandfish Lizard|journal=Science|date=2009|volume=325|issue=5938|pages=314–318|doi=10.1126/science.1172490|pmid=19608917|bibcode=2009Sci...325..314M|s2cid=15509585|url=http://crablab.gatech.edu/pages/publications/pdf/SandfishScienceC.pdf}}{{cite book | last1=Biewener | first1=Andrew A. | last2=Patek | first2=Sheila N. | title=Animal locomotion | publisher=Oxford University Press (OUP) | publication-place=Oxford, United Kingdom | year=2018 | isbn=978-0-19-874315-6 | language=en | page=xii+223 | edition=2}} {{ISBN|0198743157}}{{cite journal | last=Ramaswamy | first=Sriram | title=The Mechanics and Statistics of Active Matter | journal=Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics | publisher=Annual Reviews | volume=1 | issue=1 | date=2010-08-10 | issn=1947-5454 | doi=10.1146/annurev-conmatphys-070909-104101 | pages=323–345| arxiv=1004.1933 | bibcode=2010ARCMP...1..323R | s2cid=55500360 }} has demonstrated the lizard swims within sand using an undulatory gait with its limbs tucked against its sides rather than use its limbs as paddles{{cite journal|last1=Baumgartner|first1=Werner|last2=Fidler|first2=Florian|last3=Weth|first3=Agnes|last4=Habbecke|first4=Martin|last5=Jakob|first5=Peter|last6=Butenweg|first6=Christoph|last7=Böhme|first7=Wolfgang|title=Investigating the Locomotion of the Sandfish in Desert Sand Using NMR-Imaging|journal=PLOS ONE|date=2008|volume=3|issue=10|pages=e3309|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0003309|pmid=18836551|pmc=2561000|bibcode=2008PLoSO...3.3309B|doi-access=free}} to propel itself forward. Subsequent studies of the mathematics of sandfish sand-swimming,{{cite journal|last1=Ding|first1=Yang|last2=Sharpe|first2=Sarah S.|last3=Masse|first3=Andrew|last4=Goldman|first4=Daniel I.|author4-link=Daniel I. Goldman|title=Mechanics of Undulatory Swimming in a Frictional Fluid|journal=PLOS Computational Biology|date=2012|volume=8|issue=12|pages=e1002810|doi=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002810|pmid=23300407|pmc=3531286|bibcode=2012PLSCB...8E2810D |doi-access=free }} using robotic models,{{cite journal|last1=Maladen|first1=R. D.|last2=Ding|first2=Y.|last3=Umbanhowar|first3=P. B.|last4=Kamor|first4=A.|last5=Goldman|first5=Daniel I.|author5-link=Daniel I. Goldman|title=Mechanical models of sandfish locomotion reveal principles of high performance subsurface sand-swimming|journal=Journal of the Royal Society Interface|date=2011|volume=8|issue=62|pages=1332–1345|doi=10.1098/rsif.2010.0678|pmid=21378020|pmc=3140717}}{{cite journal | last=Ijspeert | first=Auke J. | title=Biorobotics: Using robots to emulate and investigate agile locomotion | journal=Science | publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) | volume=346 | issue=6206 | date=2014-10-10 | issn=0036-8075 | doi=10.1126/science.1254486 | pages=196–203| pmid=25301621 | bibcode=2014Sci...346..196I | s2cid=42734749 | url=http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/202118 }} and electromyography{{cite journal|last1=Sharpe|first1=S. S.|last2=Ding|first2=Y.|last3=Goldman|first3=Daniel I.|author3-link=Daniel I. Goldman|title=Environmental interaction influences muscle activation strategy during sand-swimming in the sandfish lizard Scincus scincus|journal=Journal of Experimental Biology|date=2012|volume=216|issue=2|pages=260–274|doi=10.1242/jeb.070482|url=http://jeb.biologists.org/content/216/2/260.full|pmid=23255193|doi-access=free|url-access=subscription}} show that the sandfish uses the optimum waveform to move through the sand with minimal energetic cost, given its anatomy.
To further support their title as a "sand-fish," these lizards are able to breathe even when completely submerged in the desert sand.{{Cite journal|last1=Stadler|first1=Anna T.|last2=Vihar|first2=Boštjan|last3=Günther|first3=Mathias|last4=Huemer|first4=Michaela|last5=Riedl|first5=Martin|last6=Shamiyeh|first6=Stephanie|last7=Mayrhofer|first7=Bernhard|last8=Böhme|first8=Wolfgang|last9=Baumgartner|first9=Werner|date=2016-11-15|title=Adaptation to life in aeolian sand: how the sandfish lizard, Scincus scincus, prevents sand particles from entering its lungs|journal=Journal of Experimental Biology|language=en|volume=219|issue=22|pages=3597–3604|doi=10.1242/jeb.138107|issn=0022-0949|pmid=27852763|pmc=5117194|doi-access=free}} They breathe the tiny pockets of air between grains of sand, and a specially-formed respiratory tract catches inhaled particles before they reach the lungs. These particles are then expelled via sneezing.
Range
Diet
The sandfish skink is an insectivore. Sandfish have a diet of dubias, crickets, and mealworms. It can detect vibrations that nearby insects create while moving, using those vibrations to locate, ambush, and consume them.{{Cite journal|last=Hetherington|first=Thomas E.|date=1989-02-01|title=Use of vibratory cues for detection of insect prey by the sandswimming lizard Scincus scincus|url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2F0003-3472%2889%2990118-8|journal=Animal Behaviour|language=en|volume=37|pages=290–297|doi=10.1016/0003-3472(89)90118-8|issn=0003-3472|s2cid=53188138|url-access=subscription}}
Hardiness
Sandfish are strong and resilient, since one of the most inhospitable places to live is their home. They live comfortably in temperatures of 54 degrees Celsius (130 degrees Fahrenheit) to 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit).{{cite web |last1=Mariah |first1=Healey |title=Lighting, Temps & Humidity |url=https://reptifiles.com/sandfish-care-guide/sandfish-temperatures-uvb-humidity/ |website=Reptifiles |access-date=2024-01-08}}
Relatives
The sandfish has around 6 or 7 morphs. The sandfish is very similar to Peters's banded skink, a less wedge-nosed skink with different hands that are more similar to a blue tongue skink than a sandfish.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}
References
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External links
{{Commons}}
- [http://www.physorg.com/news166973246.html physorg.com Study Reveals Small Lizard Tucks Legs and Swims Like a Snake Through Desert Sand (w/ Video)]
- [http://www.physics.gatech.edu/research/goldman/pages/research/projects/sandfish.html Movies on sandfish locomotion]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q620576}}
Category:Reptiles of the Middle East
Category:Reptiles described in 1758