[6] It does this to prevent its body from overheating and to escape potential predators, such as the Saharan Sand Viper (Cerastes vipera) [9] This skink has a long, wedge-shaped snout with a countersunk lower jaw, shaped much like a basket.

Its compact, tapered body is covered with smooth, shiny scales that may appear oily to the untrained eye, and its legs are short and sturdy with long, flattened and fringed shovel-like feet.

To this day, nomadic tribes of the region believe that the skink's ability to avoid predators by diving into sand is a blessing that protects them from dangers of the desert and often keep the animal as a pet.

[10] They breathe the tiny pockets of air between grains of sand, and a specially-formed respiratory tract catches inhaled particles before they reach the lungs.

[10] Species in the Scincus genus are distributed over an extensive belt of desert from the west coast of Africa, through the Sahara and into Arabia.