| Common scaly-foot | |
|---|---|
 | |
| at Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, Australia | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Pygopodidae |
| Genus: | Pygopus |
| Species: | P. lepidopodus |
| Binomial name | |
| Pygopus lepidopodus | |
 | |
The common scaly-foot (Pygopus lepidopodus) is a widespread species of legless lizard in the Pygopodidae family. [1] It is endemic to Australia.
Mostly active at dusk or dawn (crepuscular), it can be nocturnal after high daytime temperatures. It lives in long grasses, heaths, and woodlands, and is most often seen on warm mornings, foraging for food. When threatened, the scaly-foot flashes its thick, fleshy tongue, in an apparent mimicry of snakes. Usually two eggs are laid per clutch. [2]
Its diet includes a variety of invertebrates such as burrowing spiders. [3] The scaly-foot reportedly also eating other lizards in captivity, and vegetable matter, [4] with a preference for bananas.
It is found mostly in the southern and eastern parts of Australia, though isolated populations occur in semiarid southern Queensland and tropical wet Queensland. [1]
The scaly-foot is snake-like in appearance, up to 80 cm in length with a noticeable "keel" or ridge on the top. Variable in colours and pattern, it occasionally is grey with black spots or [1] sometimes coppery brown with a grey tail. Other patterns and variations occur. Prominent limb flaps may be seen on close inspection, hence the name "scaly-foot".
Considered an easy to keep species, [2] a license is required to keep the common scaly-foot as a pet in Australia.
Lizard is the common name used for all squamate reptiles other than snakes, encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The grouping is paraphyletic as some lizards are more closely related to snakes than they are to other lizards. Lizards range in size from chameleons and geckos a few centimeters long to the 3-meter-long Komodo dragon.
Cape Le Grand National Park is a national park in Western Australia, 631 km (392 mi) south-east of Perth and 56 km (35 mi) east of Esperance. The park covers an area of 31,801 hectares The area is an ancient landscape which has been above sea level for well over 200 million years and remained unglaciated. As a result, the area is home to many primitive relict species. Established in 1966, the park is managed by the Department of Parks and Wildlife. The name Le Grand is from one of the officers on L'Espérance, one of the ships in the 1792 expedition of Bruni d'Entrecasteaux.
Pygopodidae, commonly known as snake-lizards, or flap-footed lizards, are a family of legless lizards with reduced or absent limbs, and are a type of gecko. At least 35 species are placed in two subfamilies and eight genera. They have unusually long, slender bodies, giving them a strong resemblance to snakes. Like snakes and most geckos, they have no eyelids, but unlike snakes, they have external ear holes and flat, unforked tongues. They are native to Australia and New Guinea.
Pygopus is a genus belonging to the family of Australian legless lizards (Pygopodidae). Members of this genus are also commonly called scaly-foot.
Threatened fauna of Australia are those species and subspecies of birds, fish, frogs, insects, mammals, molluscs, crustaceans, and reptiles to be found in Australia that are in danger of becoming extinct. This article lists species classified as threatened species under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Beecroft Peninsula is the northern headland of Jervis Bay, on Australia's east coast. On the western and southern sides of the peninsula steep sandstone cliffs rise out of the ocean, up to 91 metres at its southernmost point, Point Perpendicular. White sandy beaches are found along the northern, eastern and southern sides interspersed with numerous intertidal reefs.
Legless lizard may refer to any of several groups of lizards that have independently lost limbs or reduced them to the point of being of no use in locomotion. It is the common name for the family Pygopodidae. These lizards are often distinguishable from snakes on the basis of one or more of the following characteristics: possessing eyelids, possessing external ear openings, lack of broad belly scales, notched rather than forked tongue, having two more-or-less-equal lungs, and/or having a very long tail.
Paradelma orientalis, commonly known as the Brigalow scaly-foot or Queensland snake-lizard, is a species of legless lizard in the family Pygopodidae. It is endemic to Australia and is the only species in the monotypic genus Paradelma.
Burton's legless lizard is a species of lizard in the family Pygopodidae. The species lacks forelegs and has only rudimentary hind legs. Pygopodid lizards are also referred to as "legless lizards", "flap-footed lizards" and "snake-lizards". This species is native to Australia and Papua New Guinea.
The Armadale Reptile Centre is a reptile zoo in Armadale, Western Australia that focuses on herpetology and wildlife endemic to Australia.
The broad-tailed gecko, southern leaf-tailed gecko, or Sydney leaf-tailed gecko is a common gecko of the family Carphodactylidae found in the Sydney Basin. The species uses its mottled colour to camouflage against bark or rock, and if threatened can drop its large fleshy tail as a decoy. The tail is also useful for fat storage. This species of gecko is available in captivity as a pet, they are a nocturnal ambush hunter, relying on camouflage and patience to catch prey. Primary prey items include large nocturnal invertebrates such as spiders, cockroaches and beetles.
The hooded scaly-foot, also known as western scaly-foot, black-headed scaly-foot or western hooded scaly-foot, is an endemic Australian legless lizard of the family Pygopodidae.
Hemiaspis damelii is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. It is a relatively small species of elapid with a mean snout-vent length (SVL) of 42.6 to 60 cm. The species is endemic to eastern Australia and is most commonly found across central inland New South Wales through to the interior of south-eastern Queensland. Common names for this species include ngabi, grey snake and Dämel's Snake. The specific name, damelii, is in honor of German entomologist Edward Dämel, who collected Australian specimens for Museum Godeffroy.
The red-naped snake is a small venomous reptile from the family Elapidae. The snakes are found in four Australian states and are listed as 'threatened' in Victoria'. They are nocturnal and feed on small skinks. The young eastern brown snake is similar in appearance.
The eastern hooded scaly-foot or eastern scaly-foot is a species of flap-footed lizard found in the complex heaths of the lower west coast and the spinifex grasslands of mainland Australia. They are popular pets and are often mistaken for snakes due to their limbless appearance.
The northern hooded scaly-foot is a species of legless lizard in the family Pygopodidae. The species is native to northern Australia.
Pygopus robertsi, also known as Robert's scaly-foot or Cape York scaly-foot, is a species of legless lizard of the Pygopodidae family. It is endemic to Queensland, Australia.
The Mallee worm-lizard , also known as the pink-nosed worm-lizard and the red-tailed worm-lizard, is a slender pygopid species that is endemic to Australia, with recorded distribution across the four southern mainland states, although its distribution is restricted in Western Australia and New South Wales.
The striated worm-lizard is a species of legless lizard in the family Pygopodidae. It is endemic to southern Australia. Commonly known as Striated worm-lizard but has also been referred to as the Striped or Lined worm-lizard due to its pattern of long, thin parallel streaks. Some populations such as those in WA and Kangaroo Island may have absent stripes or the lines present as lines of dots.
The olive legless lizard is a species of legless gecko from the Pygopodidae family. This species is commonly found throughout the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland and southeastern South Australia, mostly inhabiting areas consisting of dry to temperate southern grasslands and grassy woodlands.
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