Asian Snake-Eyed Skink
Ablepharus pannonicus
A tiny, harmless skink with fused eyelids. In Georgia only a 1973 Vashlovani record; no later confirmation.
At a glance
Key facts in one look
Habitat
Vashlovani (1973)
Length
SVL ~3.5–6 cm
Venom
None — harmless
Conservation
CR D2 (Georgia)
Checklist
Confirmed
Family
Scincidae
Human interaction: It has no venom and is harmless to people. Do not pick it up: the animal is small, easily injured, and may drop its tail. Photograph the back and side at close range, note the locality, and leave it where it is. A new Vashlovani record needs a documented scientific report.
Overview
What is Asian Snake-Eyed Skink
The Asian snake-eyed skink (Ablepharus pannonicus) is a tiny harmless skink with fused eyelids, known in Georgia only from a 1973 Vashlovani record. No later confirmation is available. It belongs to the skink family (Scincidae). Georgia’s 2014 Red List names it აზიური შიშველთვალა and lists it as Critically Endangered (CR D2) because the national range is a point locality. The 2026 Georgian checklist treats the species as biologically confirmed but has no barcoded specimen. Globally IUCN lists it as Least Concern; that does not replace the national CR status. The species ranges across western and Central Asia. Do not expect it across Georgia. It is harmless to people.
Last updated
Identification
How to identify Asian Snake-Eyed Skink
A very small, smooth-scaled skink with fused eyelids. In Georgia only the historical Vashlovani record is cited.
The eyelids are fused into a transparent spectacle — the animal cannot blink, so the eye looks like a snake’s. The genus name refers to this lidless (ablepharine) eye.
The body is slender and elongate, with smooth, shiny scales. Limbs are short but five-toed — it is not legless. The ear opening is minute. Dorsum is often bronze-olive, sometimes with three dark longitudinal lines; a dark, light-edged band runs through the eye along the side. Underside greenish-white. That colour description is Anderson’s species-level account, not a measurement of a Georgian specimen.
It is tiny. At genus level, snout–vent length is usually up to about 6 cm (Greer 1974). Anderson often gives about 3.5 cm SVL and about 9.5 cm total length. No published length exists for a Georgian specimen.
The snake-eyed lizard (Ophisops elegans) occurs sporadically in the south-east; it is a lacertid, not a skink — different scales, larger and faster. Schneider’s skink (Eumeces schneiderii) is the same family but several times larger as an adult, with a visible eyelid ring. The slow worm is legless. If the lizard can blink, it is not this species.
In Georgia it is known only from a 1973 Vashlovani record; no later confirmation is available. The 2026 Georgian checklist treats the species as biologically confirmed but has no barcoded specimen. The only named site is Vashlovani (Kakheti). Do not expect it across Georgia.
Quiz
Next: which lizard is it?
Asian Snake-Eyed Skink is in the Georgia lizard quiz. Ten field photos, four names — eye practice, not field ID.
Biology
Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation
Habitat and range
The only named Georgian locality is Vashlovani Nature Reserve in eastern Georgia — today’s Kakheti. The source is Bakradze and Darevsky (1973). Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026 state that no further confirmation is available. The map on this atlas marks Kakheti as the region of that record; it does not mean the species is widespread or currently present throughout Kakheti. No other administrative regions are assigned here. Some protected-area texts still present it as a Caucasian rarity of Vashlovani; that repeats the same historical record, not a new field confirmation. Habitat type is not described in the Georgian checklist. Elsewhere in the range (for example Iran) it is often found in semi-desert, steppe, mountain slopes, leaf litter and rocky ground; that is not a measured Georgian habitat. Elevation in Georgia is not published. A small “snake-eyed” skink in Vashlovani today would need documentation; it would not automatically confirm the old record.
Diet
No Georgian stomach-content study is published for this species. Elsewhere, Anderson (1999) lists small beetles, acridids and ants. Small invertebrates are expected, but the Georgian diet has not been measured.
Behavior
The Reptile Database treats the species as diurnal. The body is slender and the limbs are short, so it often moves under leaf litter or stones and is easy to miss. No separate hourly or seasonal calendar is published for Georgia. In western Iran, ovaries are active in spring and sexual activity is absent in autumn; the authors suggest fat storage before winter. That is Iranian seasonality, not a Vashlovani measurement. It lays eggs (eggshell glands are described); clutch size in Georgia is unknown. The tail can be shed; a short or regenerated tail does not change the identification. Do not confuse it with the snake-eyed lizard (Ophisops elegans): that species also has fused eyelids, but it is a lacertid — larger and fast on open ground. Schneider’s skink (Eumeces schneiderii) is in the same family but much larger, with a visible eyelid ring. The slow worm (Anguis colchica) has no limbs. The two-streaked snake-eyed skink (Ablepharus bivittatus) is not on the 2026 Georgian checklist; it is known from Armenia, Azerbaijan and northern Iran.
Conservation
Georgia’s 2014 Red List (Resolution No. 190) lists the species as Critically Endangered (CR D2), based on a very restricted (point) range. That national status follows from a single, narrow locality. The IUCN Red List places the species globally as Least Concern because the Asian range is wide. A 2024 Caucasian ecoregion review also uses LC and names south-east Georgia (Vashlovani). That does not cancel the 2014 Georgian CR D2 listing. The 2026 checklist treats it as biologically confirmed; distribution confidence is medium; there is no barcode. If a Georgian population still exists, it is likely very small or local — an inference, not a new census. Do not handle it.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Asian Snake-Eyed Skink.
The 2026 checklist retains the species from Bakradze and Darevsky (1973) at Vashlovani Nature Reserve. No further confirmation is available. That does not remove it from the checklist.
The only named place is Vashlovani (Kakheti). No other region is assigned here. Even there, a present-day encounter is unconfirmed.
No. It has no venom. Do not handle it — it is small and easily injured.
It is a very small lizard. Literature often gives about 3.5 cm snout–vent length, with a genus-level upper figure near 6 cm. The Georgian specimen was not measured in sources used here.
Both have fused eyelids. Ablepharus is a tiny skink with smooth scales and short limbs. Ophisops is a larger, fast lacertid of open ground.
The 2014 list uses CR D2 because of a point range — one narrow locality in the country. Globally IUCN lists it as LC because the Asian range is wide.
The eyelids are fused and transparent, so the eye resembles a snake’s. It is not a snake. The Red List Georgian name is აზიური შიშველთვალა.
References
Sources
References
Sources
- Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026 — Annotated checklist of Georgia's amphibians and reptiles
- Bakradze & Darevsky 1973 — The lidless skink Ablepharus pannonicus in the Caucasus
- საქართველოს მთავრობის დადგენილება №190 (2014) — წითელი ნუსხა
- IUCN Red List — Ablepharus pannonicus
- Anderson 1999 — The lizards of Iran
- Greer 1974 — The generic relationships of the scincid lizard genus Leiolopisma and its relatives
- Heirani, Karamiani & Azadbakht 2026 — Female reproductive system of Ablepharus pannonicus
- Karamiani, Rastegar-Pouyani & Rastegar-Pouyani 2018 — Habitat suitability of A. grayanus and A. pannonicus
- Tuniyev & Ananjeva 2024 — High herpetological diversity in the Caucasian Ecoregion
- The Reptile Database
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
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