Anomalopus mackayi

Anomalopus mackayi, commonly known as the five-clawed worm skink, long-legged worm skink, and MacKay's burrowing skink, is a species of smooth-scaled burrowing skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to eastern Australia.

Anomalopus mackayi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Anomalopus
Species:
A. mackayi
Binomial name
Anomalopus mackayi

Etymology

The specific name, mackayi, is in honor of Australian herpetologist Roy D. MacKay.[3]

Behaviour and habitat

A. mackayi generally burrows in areas with black soil and few trees.

Description

A. mackayi generally grows to the size of about 10 cm (3.9 in) snout-vent length (SVL). It is similar to Anomalopus leuckartii but with distinctly didactyle (having two digits) hindlimbs, a central dark spot within each individual scale, and is yellow-green below with darker flecks (Cogger 2000).

Reproduction

Adult females of A. mackayi give birth to live young.

Conservation status

A. mackayi is listed as Vulnerable under the IUCN Red List, and as Endangered under Queensland's Nature Conservation Act 1992.[4]

References
  1. Shea G, Cogger H, Greenlees M (2018). "Anomalopus mackayi ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Species Anomalopus mackayi at The Reptile Database . www.reptile-database.org.
  3. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Anomalopus mackayi, pp. 164-165).
  4. Australasian Reptile & Amphibian Specialist Group (1996). "Anomalopus mackayi ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996: e.T1541A4578855. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T1541A4578855.en. Database entry includes a range map and justification for why this species is of least concern.

Further reading
  • Cogger H (2014). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. xxx + 1,033 pp. ISBN 978-0643100350.
  • Greer AE, Cogger HG (1985). "Systematics of the reduce-limbed and limbless skinks currently assigned to the genus Anomalopus (Lacertilia: Scincidae)". Records of the Australian Museum 37 (1): 11–54. (Anomalopus mackayi, new species).
  • Groombridge B (editor) (1994). 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. Gland, Switzerland: International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
  • Wilson, Steve; Swan, Gerry (2013). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia, Fourth Edition. Sydney: New Holland Publishers. 522 pp. ISBN 978-1921517280.


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