The Ocellated skink - 'Ix-xahmet l-art'

Abstract

Anybody who has gone for an early morning walk on the dunes backing such bays as Ghadira and Ramla tat-Torri in Malta or Ramla l-Mamra in Gozo is bound to have noticed the tracks of animals in the sand. The most conspicuous of these look rather like bicycle-tyre marks criss-crossing on the dunes but a keen eye will reveal a regular series of small depressions on either side of the central groove. These are the tracks of an animal characteristic of sand-dunes: the Skink or in Maltese, Ix-Xanmet l-Art.