Specimen with orange-red flank : MacRitchie Reservoir, Singapore.


Specimen with yellow throat :  Fraser's Hill, Peninsular Malaysia.
 

Family : SCINCIDAE
Species : Mabuya multifasciata
Size (snout to vent) : 13 cm
Size (total length) : 35 cm

References : H1, H2

Skinks are characterised by their smooth, scaled skins, and small legs. Mainly terrestrial and diurnal, they are to be found basking in the sun along forest tracks or on tree trunks. 

The Many-lined or Common Sun Skink can be identified by the five or seven dark lines on its ventral surface parallel to its body line. Older, larger specimens are commonly found lacking the thick tail.

It inhabits primary and secondary forests, and is often found on the forest floor where the sun breaks through the canopy. However it can also be found close to villages and along river banks.

	Normal brown colouration : Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore.

The colour of the flanks can vary from an olive-brown (right) to a reddish-orange (upper left). Throat colour can vary from white to yellow (bottom left). It feeds mainly on insects and gives birth to live young. 

The species ranges from India, southern China, Burma, Thailand and Indochina down through Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, to Sumatra, Borneo, Java and other islands of Indonesia and the Philippines.