White's skink

White's skink (Liopholis whitii) is a species of skink in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Australia.

White's skink

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Liopholis
Species:
L. whitii
Binomial name
Liopholis whitii
(Lacépède, 1804)
Synonyms[2]
  • Scincus whitii
    Lacépède, 1804
  • Lygosoma moniligera
    A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1839
  • Liopholis moniligera
    — Fitzinger, 1843
  • Hinulia whitii
    — Gray, 1845
  • Egernia whitii
    — Boulenger, 1887
  • Liopholis whitii
    — Gardner et al., 2008

Etymology

The specific name, whitii, and the common name, White's skink, are both in honour of Irish surgeon and naturalist John White.[3]

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[4][5]

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.[2]

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Egernia.

gollark: THEY SHOULD BE SEPARATE TRAITS, FOR STRONG TYPOIDAL PURPOSES
gollark: THIS IS ALSO BAD
gollark: AND REQUIRED EQUALITY
gollark: IT MADE ANTISYMMETRY AND STUFF RANDOM BOOLS ON THE TRAIT
gollark: Your binary relation trait was actually bad.

References
  1. "Liopholis whitii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018. 2018. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T178520A101748542.en.
  2. "Liopholis whitii ". 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. (Egernia whitii, p. 284).
  4. Wildlife of Tasmania – White’s Skink
  5. 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).
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