biology

Tropidophorus beccarii

Tropidophorus beccarii is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Tropidophorus beccarii rather than just read about it. In short: Tropidophorus beccarii, also known commonly as Beccari's keeled skink and Beccari's water skink, is a species of lizard in the subfamily Lygosominae of the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to the island of Borneo.

Key takeaways

Tropidophorus beccarii belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Tropidophorus beccarii to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Tropidophorus beccarii from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Tropidophorus beccarii, also known commonly as Beccari's keeled skink and Beccari's water skink, is a species of lizard in the subfamily Lygosominae of the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to the island of Borneo.

Etymology The specific name, beccarii, is in honor of Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari.

Geographic range On the island of Borneo, T. beccarii is found in Brunei, northern Kalimantan (Indonesia), Sabah, and Sarawak (Malaysia).

Habitat The preferred natural habitats of T. beccarii are forest and freshwater wetlands, at altitudes from sea level to 1,000 m (3,300 ft).

Description Dorsally, T. beccarii is reddish brown, with dark brown crossbands. The flanks have whitish spots. Ventrally, it is yellowish. T. beccarii may attain a snout to vent length (SVL) of 9.8 cm (3.9 in). The largest specimen measured by Boulenger had an SVL of 8 cm (3.1 in), and a tail length of 10.6 cm (4.2 in).

Diet T. beccarii preys upon water insects.

Reproduction T. beccarii is viviparous. Average litter size is four.

References

Further reading Goldberg SR (2017). "Reproduction in Beccari's Keeled Skinks, Tropidophorus beccarii (Squamata: Scincidae), from Borneo". Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society 52: 65. Hikida T, Ota H (1994). "Sphenomorphus aquaticus Malkmus, 1991, a junior synonym of Tropidophorus beccarii (Peters, 1871) (Reptilia: Squamata: Scincidae)". Bonner Zoologische Beiträge 45 (1): 57–60. Peters W (1871). "Über neue Reptilien aus Ostafrika und Sarawak (Borneo), vorzüglich aus der Sammlung des Hrn. Marquis J. Doria zu Genua". Monatsberichte der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1871: 566–581. (Tropidophorus beccarii, new species, p. 574). (in German).

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tropidophorus beccarii

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tropidophorus beccarii claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Tropidophorus beccarii before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Tropidophorus beccarii ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Tropidophorus beccarii

In research: Tropidophorus beccarii appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Tropidophorus beccarii in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Tropidophorus beccarii is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Endemic fauna of Borneo, IUCN Red List least concern species, Lizards of Indonesia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tropidophorus beccarii outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Tropidophorus beccarii” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Tropidophorus beccarii in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tropidophorus beccarii means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Tropidophorus beccarii out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tropidophorus beccarii in simple terms?

Why does Tropidophorus beccarii matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Tropidophorus beccarii?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Tropidophorus beccarii.