(Not) snakes alive!

By JANET HAGEN IN the foothills around the Strathbogie Ranges, in grassland and grassy-woodland habitats, lingers some reptiles capable of startling any bushwalker. Two species of legless lizards, the olive legless lizard (Delma inornata) and the striped legless lizard (D. impar) may look like snakes but are quite safe. The species have evolved to lead a snake-like lifestyle, slithering through grass and squeezing into tight, narrow cracks in the ground and under rocks, where legs are a hindrance. I found my first legless lizard while planting trees on a rocky hillside at Gobur. Euroa Arboretum founder Cathy Olive and I were using a mattock to hack holes into the dry, hard soil. It was an unfortunate encounter. “There’s a legless [chop] lizard!” she said, as the olive legless lizard – with a conservation status of vulnerable – became two halves. The striped legless lizard persists in just a few sites in Victoria due to agriculture and housing developments engulfing their grassland habitat. They are unable to live in areas where the ground is disturbed by tilling or heavy grazing. Legless lizards are sleek and slender reptiles that resemble tiny snakes at first glance and are unique to Australia and New Guinea. They are most closely related to geckos and, unlike snakes, have a fleshy tongue that is not forked, and visible external ears. They also have two tiny flaps that are all that remain of their hind legs and the tail is up to two thirds of their total length. The common name comes from the one or more dark stripes along the side of their scaly bodies. Other markings may be black, brown, cream, or grey, and they seem to have a small home range, not traveling very far.

(Not) snakes alive!

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