Eastern sandfish

The Arabian sand skink Scincus mitranus lives in soft sand dunes and sandy plains and prefers slopes sheltered from the wind; it is active by day, emerging to forage on the sand surface after sunrise and hiding beneath the sand when the heat intensifies, and it feeds on insects and plant matter.

The eastern skink (sandfish) lives in central and southern Arabia east of the Asir and Yemen highlands, extends north to Kuwait, and occurs in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Oman and Iran. It has been reported from Pakistan, but this record is unconfirmed and it most likely does not occur there.