Pink-tailed worm-lizard

Pink-tailed worm-lizard
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Pygopodidae
Genus: Aprasia
Species:
A. parapulchella
Binomial name
Aprasia parapulchella
Kluge, 1974

The pink-tailed worm-lizard or granite worm-lizard (Aprasia parapulchella) is a rare legless lizard found in Australia. The animal looks like a combination of small snake and worm. Its total length is up to 14 cm. It has a pink tail and is white underneath. The head and neck are brown, and the rest of the top of the body is pale grey. Scales on the back each have a dark bar, giving the appearance of dots down the back.[2] It is found on two hills near Tarcutta, Bathurst, New South Wales, Bendigo in Victoria, and along the sides of the Molonglo River and Murrumbidgee River and on Mount Taylor in the Australian Capital Territory.[3] The lizards eat invertebrates that live under rocks. They can be found under rocks sized from 0.15 to 0.6 m.[4] Their main diet is ant eggs, particularly from Iridomyrmex species and Rhytidoponera metallica.[5]

  1. ^ Shea, G., Cogger, H. & Greenlees, M. 2018. Aprasia parapulchella. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T102827944A102827965. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T102827944A102827965.en. Downloaded on 4 April 2019.
  2. ^ "Aprasia parapulchella — Pink-tailed Worm-lizard, Pink-tailed Legless Lizard". Species Profile and Threats Database. Canberra: Department of the Environment. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference fs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Bendigo, Flora and Fauna Pink Tailed Worm Lizard". Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  5. ^ Georges, Arthur (22 December 1997). "The Role of Ant Communities in the Ecology of the Endangered Legless Lizard Aprasia parapulchella: An Interim Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013.