White's skink
| White's skink | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Scincidae |
| Genus: | Egernia |
| Species: | E. whitii |
| Binomial name | |
| Egernia whitii (Lacépède, 1804) | |
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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White's skink (Egernia whitii ) is a species of skink in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Australia.
Etymology
The specific name, whitii, and the common name, White's skink, are both in honour of Irish surgeon and naturalist John White.[2]
Geographic range
E. whitii is found in south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania and many Bass Strait islands.
Description
White's skink is slow-growing, to a maximum snout-to-vent length (SVL) of about 90 mm (3.5 in), and may take four years to reach maturity.
Reproduction
E. whitii gives birth to live young.
Taxonomy
E. whitii is highly variable and may be a complex of closely related species[3][4]
Habitat
White's skink prefers dry habitats, usually on steep hills.
Behaviour
E. whitii lives in families of up to seven in many-chambered tunnels with two exits to provide alternate escape routes. The main entrance usually faces west.
Subspecies
Two subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.[1]
- Egernia whitii moniligera (A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1839)
- Egernia whitii whitii (Lacèpėde, 1804)
Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Egernia.
References
- 1 2 "Liopholis whitii ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- ↑ 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. (Egernia whitii, p. 284).
- ↑ Wildlife of Tasmania – White’s Skink
- ↑ Cogger HG (1979). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. Reed: Sydney. ISBN 0-589-50108-9.
Further reading
- Boulenger GA (1887). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume III ... Scincidae ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 575 pp. + Plates I-XL. (Egernia whitii, pp. 135-136).
- Lacépède (1804). "Mémoire sur plusieurs animaux de la Nouvelle-Hollande dont la description n'a pas encore été publiée ". Annales du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris 4: 184-211. (Scincus whitii, new species, p. 209). (in French).