Anomalopus mackayi

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

Anomalopus mackayi
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Scinciformata
Infraorder:	Scincomorpha
Family:	Sphenomorphidae
Genus:	Anomalopus
Species:	A. mackayi
Binomial name
Anomalopus mackayi Greer & Cogger, 1985[2]

Etymology

The specific name, mackayi, is in honor of Australian herpetologist Roy D. Mackay.^[2][3]

Behaviour and habitat

Anomalopus mackayi generally burrows in areas with black soil and few trees.^{[citation needed]}

Description

Anomalopus mackayi usually grows to a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of about 10 cm (3.9 in). A. mackayi is similar to A. 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 Anomalopus mackayi give birth to live young by ovoviviparity.^{[citation needed]}

Conservation status

Anomalopus mackayi is listed as "Least Concern" under the 2018 IUCN Red List,^[1] and as "Endangered" under Queensland's Nature Conservation Act 1992.^[4]