Barkudia insularis

Description

Barkudia insularis commonly known as Chilka limbless skink is a critically endangered limbless skink which was described in 1917 by Nelson Annandale and rediscovered in the wild in 2003. Little is known about the species but it is believed to be found only in the mangrove habitats near Barkud Island in Chilka Lake, Odisha, India. The lizard looks like a large earthworm and lives in the subsoil and probably feeds on small arthropods. The holotype was found in loose earth near the roots of a banyan tree of Badakuda island of Chilka lake in 1917. The most recent report of the species is from 2003.