<P> Most species of skinks have long, tapering tails they can shed if predators grab onto them . Such species generally can regenerate the lost part of a tail, though imperfectly . Species with stumpy tails have no special regenerative abilities . </P> <P> Some species of skinks are quite small; Scincella lateralis typically ranges from 7.5 to 14.5 cm (3.0 to 5.7 in), more than half of which is the tail . Most skinks, though, are medium - sized, with snout - to - vent lengths around 12 cm (4.7 in), although some grow larger; the Solomon Islands skink (Corucia zebrata) is the largest known extant species and may attain a snout - to - vent length of some 35 cm (14 in). </P> <P> Skink - like lizards first appear in the fossil record about 140 million years ago, during the early Cretaceous, mostly jawbones that appear very skink - like . Definitively skink fossils appear later, during the Miocene period . </P> <P> The word "skink" comes from classical Greek skinkos, a name that referred to various specific lizards of the region . </P>

An animal with 4 legs but no tail