Trachylepis quinquetaeniata
Silhouette: David Orr · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The African five-lined skink (Trachylepis quinquetaeniata, formerly Mabuya quinquetaeniata), or rainbow mabuya, is a north-central African species of skink lizard. T. margaritifera is another closely related skink species that is also called the "rainbow skink" (although it occurs primarily in Eastern Africa); T. margaritifera, overall, possesses more colourful, "rainbow"-like scales (as opposed to the predominantly blue, black and yellowish five-lined skink, T. quinquetaeniata).
The African five-lined skink has two subspecies: Trachylepis quinquetaeniata quinquetaeniata (Lichtenstein, 1823) Trachylepis quinquetaeniata riggenbachi (Sternfeld, 1910) Trachylepis margaritifera, formerly treated as a subspecies of T. quinquetaeniata, was elevated to full species status in 1998.
Trachylepis quinquetaeniata is a smaller- to medium-sized lizard, maturing to a length of about 20 centimetres (7.9 in). The colour of this skink is quite variable, depending on the lizard's gender, its age and the time of the year. As with most skinks, its scales are glossy, shiny, and the body is rather smooth to the touch, with a 'metallic', reflective quality. The base scale... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 2 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luxor | 🇪🇬 Egypt | |
| 2 | Ouagadougou | 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | |
| 3 | Cairo | 🇪🇬 Egypt |
No species of the same family or order lives in Samburu National Reserve, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report an African Five-lined Skink sighting in Samburu National Reserve on a given day, based on 57 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 3rd most-seen of the 7 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September to November
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report an African Five-lined Skink in Samburu National Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in December, the lowest month.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most African Five-lined Skink sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 4 parks where we can rate African Five-lined Skink sightings, Samburu National Reserve ranks 2nd at about 50%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Awash National Park (Ethiopia, about 50%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the African Five-lined Skink is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Samburu National Reserve (57 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
