Red List of South African Species

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Least Concern (LC)
Assessors: Aaron Bauer Werner Conradie
Contributors: Josh Weeber
Facilitators: Graham Alexander Krystal Tolley
Reviewers: John Measey Alex Rebelo Nicolas Telford

Rationale (Changed due to Same category and criteria)

Has a restricted range but abundant throughout its distribution and not subject to major extrinsic threats, hence assessed as Least Concern.

Distribution

Endemic to South Africa, where it occurs in the western coastal parts of the Northern and Western Cape provinces (Bates et al. 2014), with an extent of occurrence of ca 18,603 km2.


Decline

Slightly

Population trend

Trend

No explicit information on population size is available. However, this species is extremely abundant in suitable habitats throughout its range (A. Bauer pers. obs.). Found in densities of up to 30 individuals per hectare (Mashinini et al. 2011). It is therefore considered to be stable.

Threats

Has relatively limited dispersal capabilities and a restricted range. Not subject to any major extrinsic threats although coastal development is a localised threat in a few areas.

Uses and trade

There is no known utilization of this species.

Conservation

The range coincides with some protected areas. No conservation actions are recommended.

References 

[@electronic{181632,
 address = {www.iucnredlist.org},
 author = {IUCN},
 title = {The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2018-2},
 year = {2018}
}
,@book{612,
 address = {Pretoria},
 author = {Bates, M.F., Branch, W.R., Bauer, A.M., Burger, M., Marais, J., Alexander, G.J. and de Villiers, M.S.},
 publisher = {Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute},
 title = {Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland},
 year = {2014}
}
,@article{41230,
 author = {Lamb, T., Biswas, S. and Bauer, A.M.},
 journal = {Zootaxa},
 pages = {33--46},
 title = {A phylogenetic reassessment of African fossorial skinks in the subfamily Acontinae (Squamata: Scincidae): evidence for parallelism and polyphyly},
 volume = {2657},
 year = {2010}
}
,@article{41230,
 author = {Daniels, S.R., Heideman, N.J.L., Hendricks, M.G.J. and Crandall, K.A.},
 journal = {Zoologica Scripta},
 number = {4},
 pages = {353--362},
 title = {Taxonomic subdivisions within the fossorial skink subfamily Acontinae (Squamata: Scincidae) reconsidered: a multilocus perspective},
 volume = {35},
 year = {2006}
}
,@article{44974254,
 author = {Broadley, D.G. and Greer, A.E.},
 journal = {Arnoldia (Rhodesia)},
 pages = {1--27},
 title = {A revision of the genus <i>Acontias</i> Cuvier (Sauria: Scincidae)},
 volume = {4},
 year = {1969}
}
,@phdthesis{44974254,
 author = {Janse van Vuuren, L.C.},
 school = {M.Sc. thesis, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa},
 title = {A Taxonomic Study of the Genus <i>Microacontias</i> (Reptillia: Acontiinae) using DNA and Morphometric Data},
 year = {2009}
}
,@phdthesis{44977870,
 author = {Mashinini, P.L.},
 school = {M.Sc. thesis, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa},
 title = {An Ecological Study of <i>Acontias litoralis</i> along the Cape West Coast of South Africa},
 year = {2004}
}
,@article{44977870,
 author = {Mashinini, P.L., Heideman, N.H.L. and Mouton, P. le F.N. },
 journal = {African Herp News },
 pages = {16--21},
 title = {On some ecolohical aspects of the coastal legless lizard <i>Acontias litoralis</i> (Scincidae: Acontinae)},
 volume = {53},
 year = {2011}
}
,]
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