After 111 years, a tiny legless lizard, once thought to be extinct, has been rediscovered in the Northern Territory.
Since the chance find last year, near the spot where the reptile was first spotted by Europeans, a team led by Territory government wildlife ecologist Chris Pavey has found 18 more of the 25cm-long bronzeback snake-lizards at 15 locations along the border with South Australia.
“They’re very cute,” Dr Pavey said of the harmless insect-eating animal, which has a bronze back, pale grey head and dark-brown stripes running along its sides from snout to tail tip.Although they look like snakes, legless lizards — also known as flap-footed lizards — evolved from Australian geckos and have no direct evolutionary connection with snakes. The only similarity is that both are reptiles.
Dr Pavey said Peter McDonald, a technical officer with the Territory’s Environment Department, discovered a single bronzeback last year while surveying a rare acacia species near Charlotte Waters.
Vladimir Putin
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