Aprasia rostrata (Parker, 1956:384)
Exmouth worm-lizard, Ningaloo worm lizard, Monte Bello worm-lizard, Atomic worm-lizard, Hermite Island worm-lizard
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Aprasia repens rostrata Parker, 1956:384; Abilenea rostrata Parker, 1956; Aprasia rostratus Parker, 1956; Aprasia rostrata rostrata Parker, 1956; Abilenea rostrata Parker, 1956; Aprasia rostrata fusca Storr, 1979; Aprasia fusca Storr, 1979; Abilenea fusca Storr, 1979
A. r. fusca was elevated to full species by (Storr et al., 1990), but synonymised with the nominate rostrata by (Maryan et al., 2013).
Conservation Status
Last record: 17 August 1952 (Maryan et al., 2013:150)
Rediscovered in September 2006 (Maryan & Bush, 2007)
IUCN RedList status: Vulnerable
Distribution
Montebello Islands (Hermite Island and Trimouille Island), Barrow Island, and the mainland, all Western Australia, Australia
Biology & Ecology
"Ecology: hummock grassland, low open shrubland, fossorial, nocturnal; oviparous."
(Cogger et al., 1983:103)
Hypodigm
Holotype: WAM R13861 (Cogger et al., 1983:103)
Type locality: "Hermite Is., Monte Bello Group, W.A." (Cogger et al., 1983:103)
Holotype (fusca): WAM R61077 (Cogger et al., 1983:103)
Type locality (fusca): "3 km NW of Bullara, in 22°40'S, 114°02'E, W.A." (Cogger et al., 1983:103)
Media
A photograph of this species can be seen here.
References
Original scientific description:
Parker, H. W. (1956). The lizard genus Aprasia; Its taxonomy and temperature correlated variation. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Zoology 3: 365-385.
Other references:
Aplin, K. P. and Smith, L. A. (2001). Checklist of the frogs and reptiles of Westem Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement No. 63: 51-74.
Australasian Reptile & Amphibian Specialist Group. (1996). Aprasia rostrata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2. (http://www.iucnredlist.org). Downloaded on 22 August 2014.
Burbidge, A. A. (1971). The fauna and flora of the Monte Bello Islands. Western Australia Department of Fisheries and Fauna Report. 9:1-15. WA Department of Fisheries and Fauna.
Burbidge, A. A., J.D. Blyth, P.J. Fuller, P.G. Kendrick, F.J. Stanley, & L.A. Smith (2000). CALMScience 3(2): 95-107.
Cogger, Hal G. (2000). Reptiles & Amphibians of Australia (Sixth Edition). New Holland Publishers, Sydney.
Cogger, Harold G., Cameron, Elizabeth E. and Cogger, Heather M. (1983). Pygopodidae, pp. 101-107. In: Zoological Catalogue of Australia. I. Amphibia and Reptilia. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. vi + 313 pp. [p. 103]
Cogger, Hal G., Cameron, Elizabeth E., Sadlier, Ross A. and Eggler, Peter. (1993). The Action Plan for Australian Reptiles. Canberra: Australian Nature Conservation Agency. [pp. 50-52]
Department of the Environment. (2015). Aprasia rostrata in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of the Environment, Canberra. Available from: http://www.environment.gov.au/sprat. Accessed Tue, 17 Mar 2015 21:40:09 +1100.
DEWHA. (2008). Approved Conservation Advice for Aprasia rostrata rostrata (Hermite Island Wormlizard), Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Commonwealth Government of Australia.
Ehmann, Harold. (1992). Encyclopedia of Australian Animals: Reptiles. Angus & Robertson, Pymble, NSW, 495 pp.
Hill, F.L. (1955). Notes on the natural history of the Monte Bello Islands. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London. 165 (2):113-124.
Maryan, Brad and Bush, Brian. (2007). Rediscovery of Aprasia rostratus on the Montebello Islands, Western Australia. The Western Australian Naturalist 25(4): 247-251.
Maryan, Brad, Bush, Brian and Adams, Mark. (2013). Morphological and molecular assessment of Aprasia fusca and A. rostrata (Squamata: Pygopodidae), with a description of a new species from the Lake MacLeod region, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 28(2): 144-163.
Storr, G. M. (1974). Five new lizards from Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 8: 134-142.
Storr, G. M., Smith, L. A. and Johnstone, R. E. (1990). Lizards of Western Australia. III. Geckos and Pygopods. Perth: Western Australian Museum.
Wells, R. W. (2007). Some taxonomic and nomenclatural considerations on the class Reptilia. A review of species in the genus Aprasia GRAY 1839 (Aprasiaidae) including the description of a new genus. Australian Biodiversity Record 6: 1-17.
Wilson, S. K. and Knowles, D. G. (1988). Australia's Reptiles: A Photographic Reference to the Terrestrial Reptiles of Australia. Australia: Collins Publishers.
Wilson, S., Lloyd, R., Gaikhorst, G., Ellis, R. and Teale, R. (2017). Aprasia rostrata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T62244A101743649. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T62244A101743649.en. Accessed on 14 July 2023.
Wotherspoon, Lucy, de Oliveira Caetano, Gabriel Henrique, Roll, Uri, Meiri, Shai, Pili, Arman, Tingley, Reid and Chapple, David G. (2024). Inferring the extinction risk of Data Deficient and Not Evaluated Australian squamates. Austral Ecology 49(2): e13485. https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.13485 [Supporting Information (Data S1)]
http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Aprasia&species=rostrata
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2015/03/11/aprasia-flapfoots/
https://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/13104/aprasia-rostrata-hermite-island-lizard