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.
Etymology The specific name, mackayi, is in honor of Australian herpetologist Roy D. Mackay.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Anomalopus mackayi, pp. 164-165).
Behaviour and habitat Anomalopus mackayi generally burrows in areas with black soil and few trees.
Description Anomalopus mackayi usually grows to a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of about . 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.
Conservation status Anomalopus mackayi is listed as "Least Concern" under the 2018 IUCN Red List, and as "Endangered" under Queensland's Nature Conservation Act 1992. Database entry includes a range map and justification for why this species is of least concern.
References
Further reading Cogger H (2014). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. xxx + 1,033 pp. . 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. . (Anomalopus mackayi, pp. 210–211).
External links "Anomalus mackayi ". Australian Government, Department of the Environment. Five-clawed worm skink.