Observed sexual dimorphism in the epidermal gland structure and arrangement for the Fossorial Skink Scelotes bidigittatus FitzSimons, 1930

Abstract

Scelotes bidigittatus is a small burrowing scincid with an obligate fossorial lifestyle (Maritz and Alexander, 2008). It lives in sandy substrate and leaf litter in savannah, forest, and grassland habitats and ranges from the South African Lowveld through eSwatini to southern Mozambique and northern KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa (Broadley, 1994; Branch, 1998; Jordaan, 2021). During August 2018, seven S. bidigittatus fatalities were collected during a post-fire mortality survey, following a late winter management fire on the Munywana Conservancy in KwaZulu-Natal province. Six of these specimens were prepared for histopathological examination to investigate fire-associated mechanisms of mortality (Jordaan and Steyl, 2023). During histopathological examination, variations in epidermal glands were noted between specimens suggesting possible sexually dimorphic differences in their structure, size, and spatial arrangement.