Speckled rock skink (Trachylepis punctatissima)
Also known as the Montane speckled skink.
Etymology:
Trachýs (τραχύς) from Greek = rough, rugged or course &Lepís (λεπίς) from Greek = referring to plates, shells or scalesThus we have a term that, combined, means rough scales. Punctatissima roughly translated to densely dotted.
Probably the most commonly seen lizard in local gardens, after the Common/Cape dwarf gecko. They are typically dark grey to brown skinks with two yellow- to golden brown lines running on either side of the spine, from the snout through to the mid body and sometimes slightly faded through to the tail section. The ‘speckles’ are faded to fairly prominent on the dorsal side. The underside, a pale to dirty white or yellow-white.
Both sexes grow to just under 20cm. Females are live bearers (viviparous) They end up being the unintended culprit of sooooo many Whatsapps, calls and more for identification of partial sheds, believed to be that of a snake. Something to note is that the species within this genera have scales with more than one keel/ridge on the scales ranging from 2 to 4 keels.
A decent close up image quickly shows the typical keeled scales of one of these species of skink, distinguishing the shed from a shed of one of our local snakes.