Keeled Indian Mabuya

Fascinating facts about the Keeled Indian Mabuya

• A single keeled Indian mabuya can grow up to 37 cm long, but most adults are only about 25 cm, with the body (snout-vent) measuring just 9 cm.
• In the dry, post-rainy season of October and November, male skinks in southern India have peak testicular size and spermatogenic activity, coinciding with the female reproductive cycle.
• A clutch can contain anywhere from 2 to 20 eggs, each measuring 11 mm by 17 mm. The mother nests in self-dug holes or under fallen logs, creating a stable micro-climate that protects the embryos until they hatch in May or June.
• When the hatchlings emerge, they measure 12–12.5 mm and they consume crickets, caterpillars, beetles, earthworms and even small vertebrates.
• These skinks are common across Bangladesh, India (except the northwest), the Maldives, Myanmar, and Nepal, and possibly Bhutan, and are found in open areas where they bask and forage by day.

At a glance

About the Keeled Indian Mabuya

The keeled Indian mabuya, Eutropis carinata, is a robust skink whose body is capped by a modest, obtuse snout and a round-ish, sub-triangular ear opening. Its dorsal surface shimmers in shades of brown, olive or bronze, sometimes speckled with dark-brown or black spots, or marked by longitudinal streaks that trace the lateral margins of its scales. A distinctive light dorso-lateral line begins above each eye and runs to the tail base, while the sides range from dark-brown to chestnut, occasionally broken by lighter flecks. The underbelly is a soft whitish-yellow, and adults reach a maximum total length of 37 cm, though most are around 25 cm, with a snout-vent length of roughly 9 cm. In the wild, these diurnal, terrestrial skinks are often seen basking on open ground or foraging among leaf litter, where they hunt a varied menu of crickets, caterpillars, beetles, earthworms and even tiny vertebrates. Females lay clutches of two to twenty eggs in self-excavated holes or beneath fallen logs between August and September, and hatchlings emerge in May-June, measuring about 12–12.5 mm. In southern India’s Mysore region, males reach peak testicular and steroidogenic activity in October-November, synchronized with the female’s dry-season cycle.

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