'Elusive and cryptic' lizard may be first Australian mainland reptile declared extinct
by Calla Wahlquist from Environment | The Guardian on (#4FRRH)
Hunt is on in Melbourne for grassland earless dragon - not seen since 1969 - after one species was reclassified as four
A newly reclassified species of lizard that is native to areas now paved by Melbourne's suburbs could become the first reptile on mainland Australia to be declared extinct.
A taxonomic survey of the grassland earless dragon, published in the Royal Society Open Science journal this week, discovered that the species classified as Tympanocryptis pinguicolla was in fact four species - one of which has not been seen since 1969.
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