About Acontias plumbeus Bianconi, 1849
Acontias plumbeus, commonly known as the giant legless skink or the giant lance skink, is a species of lizard that belongs to the family Scincidae. It is distributed across South Africa, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. This species inhabits seasonally dry savanna, woodland humus, and forest floor leaf litter, with a range that extends from Eastern Cape in South Africa through to Zimbabwe. It was previously thought that Acontias plumbeus had no genetic variation and existed as a strictly monotypic species. However, genetic structure analysis has revealed that Acontias poecilus represents a morphological variation of Acontias plumbeus. This accepted morphological variation within the species now includes individuals of different colors: uniform light brown, dark brown, black, and intermediate gray.
