Aprasia rostrata PARKER, 1956
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Aprasia rostrata?
Aprasia rostrata
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| Higher Taxa | Pygopodidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Exmouth Worm-lizard |
| Synonym | Aprasia repens rostrata PARKER 1956 Aprasia rostrata — KLUGE 1974 Aprasia rostrata fusca STORR 1979 Aprasia fusca — STORR et al. 1990 Aprasia rostrata — KLUGE 1993 Aprasia rostrata — COGGER 2000: 282 Aprasia fusca — JENNINGS et al. 2003 Abilaena fusca — WELLS 2007 Abilenea rostrata — WELLS 2007 (see comment) Aprasia rostrata — WILSON & SWAN 2010 Aprasia rostrata — MARYAN et al. 2013 |
| Distribution | Australia (Western Australia) rostrata: Hermite Island, Monte Bello Island, Western Australia. Type locality: Hermite Island, Montebello archipelago, W.A., 20° 29’ S, 115° 31’ E fusca: Australia (Western Australia), Exmouth Gulf region; Type locality: 3 km NW of Bullara (22° 40’ S, 114° 02’), W.A. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: WAM R13861, paratype: BMNH Holotype: WAM R61077 [fusca] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus Abilenea): A genus of small fossorial cryptozoic lizards of the family Aprasiaidae, readily separated from all other genera by the following combination of characters: very slender body form; snout long and slightly to strongly angular in profile (vs blunt and rounded in Aprasia); tail much shorter than body length; forelimbs absent; hindlimbs reduced to a poorly-developed minute scaly flap on each side of vent; eye covered with a transparent spectacle; no external ear opening; dorsal and ventral scales smooth; ventral scales not wider than adjacent body scales; temporal scales small, not at all enlarged; anterior parts of head covered with enlarged symmetrical shields; parietal scales absent; one frontal; one elongated supraocular on each side; pair of prefrontals; nasal scales in contact; prefrontal in contact with first and sometimes second supralabial (vs not in contact with supralabial in Aprasia); nasal scale undivided; first supralabial only partly fused (anteriorly ) to nasal (vs complete fusion in Aprasia); one preocular; supraloreal absent; loreals absent; supraciliaries absent; distinct ring of circumocular scales; postocular fused to a supralabial (vs not fused in Aprasia); usually 2 enlarged preanal scales (vs usually 3 in Aprasia); and, no preanal pores. Content: Abilenea aurita comb. nov. (Kluge, 1974); Abilenea fusca nov. comb. (Storr, 1979); Abilenea glauerti comb. nov. (Parker, 1956); Abilenea haroldi nov. comb. (Storr, 1978); Abilenea inaurita comb. nov. (Kluge, 1974); Abilenea picturata nov. comb. (Smith and Henry, 1999); Abilenea repens nov. comb. (Fry, 1914); Abilenea rostrata nov. comb. (Parker, 1956); Abilenea smithi nov. comb. (Storr, 1970); Abilenea striolata comb. nov. (Luetken, 1863). [from WELLS 2007]. |
| Comment | Specimens: No additional specimens of A. rostrata have been collected since its locality was subjected to atomic weapons testing in the 1950s (Ehmann, 1992). Subspecies: The subspecies fusca has been elevated to full species status by STORR et al. (1990) but was synonymized with rostrata by MARYAN et al. 2013. Limb morphology: Limbless. Type species: Aprasia repens rostrata PARKER 1956 is the type species of the genus Abilaena WELLS 2007. Kaiser et al. (2013) considered the generic name Abilenea Wells 2007 invalid and rejected it in favor of Aprasia. |
| Etymology | Named after the protrusive snout, from the Latin adjective “rostratus”, meaning beaked. The genus name Abilenea is derived from “abilene” from the ancient Hebrew meaning “grass” and given in reference to the importance of native hummock grass and other arid ground vegetation in the habitats of this group of lizards. |
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