The slender-tailed legless skink is a legless lizard with a very thin tail. It spends almost its entire life underground in southern Africa and feeds on small animals.
The slender-tailed legless skink differs from related species by completely reduced legs and an especially thin tail. It helps maintain balance in the soil ecosystem by eating harmful insects.
meadows, prairies, forb glades on land
Immature form that undergoes metamorphosis before adulthood.
Worker
Tail size
birth time
Describes the act of excavating soil or substrate to locate or access food.
Dogs, dolphins, lynx hang out for 9-25 years and party on their birthday three times a year
m
Map
will celebrate their {n} birthday
g
t
When your next jubilee falls in {name} life years
Human
hot Africa south of the desert, many savannas and forests
days
Warm summer
How old you would be if you lived as {name}
Theoretical maximum lifespan estimated from the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) mathematical model. This value reflects a biological potential derived from metabolic parameters, not from direct observation — real recorded lifespans are often significantly shorter.
adult
Maturity
insects
About health
When your next birthday would fall if you lived as {name}
Repro interval
results
earthworms
summer warm, winter not very cold
Colors
Sex
Upcoming jubilees
Gremllins
mo
Uses an excavated underground tunnel or chamber for refuge or nesting.
rains are very rare, almost a desert
little precipitation in winter, more in summer
Trophic type
Filters
summer very hot, dry, lots of grass
Warm winter with almost no precipitation
Upcoming birthdays
Truly long lives: 40-100 years. Bowhead whales, albatrosses, giant tortoises recall their birthday at most once a year
Lifespan
high in the mountains, cold, lots of grass and shrubs
16 to 24 grams, 7 – 12 centimeters
insect larvae and caterpillars
Age (from birth to death)
Wanderers
Jubilee = every 10th birthday
dry, cold winter, lots of grass, few trees
Earliest developmental stage inside an egg or womb.
Business sausages
Scales count
Lifespan average
Rapidly swallows prey or food items whole without chewing.
Regeneration
Montane grasslands
What do they look like?
Maturity
emergence (insects)
end of lifespan
How do they live?
fertilization / egg laying
How do they behave?
birth / hatching
metamorphosis / end of larval stage
end of acceleration
Share
Find a pet...
Mature, fully developed individual capable of reproduction.
hot, uneven rains, lots of grass and trees
gulping
Actively hunting and capturing live prey.
digging
Pets
Primary oral structure used to seize, manipulate, or ingest food.
Hot steppe
Feeding occurs primarily on land or in vegetation.
whole swallow
{name} jubilee
cm
Old-timers
Find an animal or breed...
mouth
turns
Rascals
terrestrial grassland and steppe
terrestrial herbaceous
Tail color
hot Africa south of the desert, many savannas and forests
Litter size
Tropical savanna
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
How to care for them?
Living from 25 to 40 years. Orangutans, bald eagles, African elephants celebrate their birthday twice a year
°C
Not specified
Actively searching habitats to locate food items.
Where are they found?
Low precipitation in winter
Legendary longevity: over 100 years. Galapagos tortoises, Greenland sharks, ocean quahogs celebrate with family once every 4 years
Offspring
Elders
Bro
winter dry and warm
Taxons
carnivore
if born as {name}
Forages within or on the surface of soil or substrate.
age
birth date
Head size
Close
was
Career from 7 to 15 months. Dwarf hamsters, voles, field crickets celebrate their birthday twice a month
The basics
My weight?
Non-stop carnival: they only live a few days. Mayflies, rotifers, midges celebrate their birthday more than twice a day
primary food sources
burrow
Potential Habitat
lots of grass, few trees, rains are rare
d
In husbandry
On the go from 1.3 to 3.5 years. Forest mice, anoles, rainbow fish party on their birthday once a month
Mass
Mosquitoes, fruit flies, small crustaceans hustle for up to 7 months and throw a birthday party every week
terrestrial
Body size
{name} birthday
soil
No results found
underground
On the map
lunge
Pleasant summer
all life stages
Female ♀
Cold and almost dry
Body color
world of Afrotropics
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
Potential habitat modelled from GBIF occurrence data. Map © Zveriki.com, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
birth year
Maturity
steppe
terrestrial habitat, land surface outside water
sq mm
yr
comfortable summer, +20…+25 °C
How similar?
Male ♂
until the celebration
age as {name}
How do they breed?
On the go from 3.5 to 6 years. Hedgehogs, crows, lizards treat themselves to birthday snacks 6 times a year
What if eaten?
Very dry
Neither
What do they eat?
dry and cold almost all year round
insect larvae
Where do they live?
early young
world of Afrotropics
Duration
live insects
This is me
Steppe
Gamers
How are they built?
mm
Theoretical lifespan
ml
Stars
Link copied
My age?
wk
My size?
terrestrial
Scales color
Asexual
swap
active predation
Rabbits, falcons, red-eared turtles hang out for 6-9 years and party on their birthday four times a year
Where do they take shelter?
Head color
celebrated their {n} birthday
open grassy spaces — steppes, savannas, prairies
When you would have been born if you lived as {name}
Cold steppe
Daddies
Lifespan maximum
earthworms and soil oligochaetes
foraging
Hermaphrodite ⚥
Mandarin
embryo
Length
kg
Rapid forward strike to seize prey.
Observations
◉{N} more on tap