Lerista kennedyensis explained

Lerista kennedyensis, also known commonly as Kennedy's lerista, the Kennedy Range broad-blazed slider, and the Kennedy Range broad-striped slider, is a species of skink, a lizard in the subfamily Sphenomorphinae of the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to the Australian state of Western Australia.

Etymology

The specific name, kennedyensis, refers to the Kennedy Range of mountains.^[1]

Description

L. kennedyensis has no front legs, and each small, slender back leg has only two digits.

The flanks are pale orange-brown. The lower eyelid is fused. There is a ventro-lateral keel on each side of the anterior portion of the body. Average snout-to-vent length (SVL) is 5.8cm (02.3inches).^[2]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of L. kennedyensis is sandy desert and shrubland.

Reproduction

L. kennedyensis is oviparous.

Further reading

• Cogger HG (2014). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. xxx + 1,033 pp. .
• Kendrick PG (1989). "Two New Species of Lerista (Lacertilia: Scincidae) from the Cape Range and Kennedy Range of Western Australia". Journal of Herpetology 23 (4): 350–355. (Lerista kennedyensis, new species).
• Storr GM, Smith LA, Johnstone RE (1999). Lizards of Western Australia. I. Skinks, Revised Edition. Perth: Western Australian Museum. 291 pp. .

Notes and References

1. [species:Bo Beolens|Beolens B]
2. [species:Steve K. Wilson|Wilson S]