Of the approximately 11 690 reptile species in 1 226 genera and 92 families, 7 144 are lizards, and among the lizards, 1 742 are skinks (Scincidae; Uetz et al. 2021). It is, therefore, the largest reptile family, and Trachylepis is one of the largest genera within the family with 87 species, most of which (83 species) occur in Africa.