Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Striped Legless Lizard (Delma impar), recorded as Endangered
Striped Legless Lizard (Delma impar). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Endangered

Striped Legless Lizard

Delma impar

The striped legless lizard is a lizard in the Pygopodidae family endemic to Australia.

Status
Endangered
Scientific name
Delma impar
Recorded from
Australia
Taxonomy
Squamata · Pygopodidae · Delma

Appearance

It is superficially similar to a snake, and sometimes confused with the deadly brown snake.

The lizard is up to 30 cm in length.

Range and habitat

The striped legless lizard was formerly distributed throughout temperate lowland grasslands in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), the south-western slopes and Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, central and southern Victoria, and the south-eastern corner of South Australia. Due to habitat fragmentation the remaining populations are probably small and isolated. Its sole habitat within Canberra is scheduled for development in late 2015–2016, that will destroy most of the small-animal population there.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

In crisis

As of 2015 it is threatened with extinction, with few habitats left.

Striped Legless Lizard is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Striped Legless Lizard, Wikidata item Q3727403. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

Also in this catalog

Photograph of Vaquita (Phocoena sinus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Vaquita

Phocoena sinus
Photograph of Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Javan rhinoceros

Rhinoceros sondaicus
Photograph of Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Sumatran orangutan

Pongo abelii
Photograph of Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Axolotl

Ambystoma mexicanum

Quick answers

What is Striped Legless Lizard?
Striped Legless Lizard is a lizard or snake in the family Pygopodidae — Delma impar.
What is the conservation status of Striped Legless Lizard?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Delma impar. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Striped Legless Lizard live?
The striped legless lizard was formerly distributed throughout temperate lowland grasslands in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), the south-western slopes and Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, central and southern Victoria, and the south-eastern corner of South Australia.
Why is Striped Legless Lizard in crisis?
As of 2015 it is threatened with extinction, with few habitats left.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Delma impar?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Striped Legless Lizard a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.