Delma australis KLUGE, 1974
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Delma australis
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| Higher Taxa | Pygopodidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Marble-faced Delma |
| Synonym | Delma australis KLUGE 1974: 77 Delma australis — COGGER 2000: 286 Delma australis — WILSON & SWAN 2010 Delma australis — MARYAN et al. et al. 2015 |
| Distribution | Australia (S Western Australia, S Northern Territory, South Australia, SW New South Wales, NW Victoria) Type locality: Port Lincoln, S. A., (34°44'S, 135°52'E) |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: WAM R27359, male |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A small species of Delma (SVL to 93 mm) with: ventral scales not markedly larger than adjacent lateral scales; one pair of supranasals; typically 18 midbody scales; 68–92 ventral scales (males average 76.3, females 83.5); six upper labials typically with fourth below eye; loreal scale row typically interrupted by a ventral extension of supraloreal scale that contacts upper labials; modally 5‒7 hindlimb scales in both sexes; strong dark variegations on upper surface of head; narrow dark bars on side of head (extending onto labial scales), nape and forebody. This revised diagnosis is essentially unchanged from those provided by previous authors (Kluge 1974; Storr et al. 1990; Shea 1991), despite the exclusion herein of D. hebesa sp. nov. Delma australis differs from the closely related D. torquata of southeastern Queensland in: larger adult size (SVL to 93 mm versus to 63 mm); three precloacal scales (versus two); the fourth upper labial scale typically below the eye (versus typically the third below the eye); modally 18 midbody scale rows (versus 16); and dark variegations or narrow bars (if present) on head, neck and forebody (versus broad dark bands). It differs from D. hebesa sp. nov. in: hindlimb scale counts in both sexes modally 5‒7 (versus > 9); body colour brownish on head and tail (versus greyish on head and tail); head, nape and lateral scales of forebody with strong dark variegations or narrow barring (versus weak variegations); dark barring on head typically extends ventrally onto the chin and throat (versus indistinct dark bars or smudges present on the lower labials); and dark pigment on rostral and lower labials not aligned with sutures (versus dark smudges positioned over sutures between rostral and lower labials). [MARYAN et al. 2015: 316]. |
| Comment | Limb morphology: Limbless. Synonymy: Southwestern populations of Delma australis have been redescribed as D. hebesa; both species appear to be parapatric though. Sympatry: D. butleri, D. fraseri, D. grayii, D. nasuta, and D. petersoni. |
| Etymology | Named after the Latin adjective australis = southern, referring to the fact that the species has the most widespread southern geographic distribution in the genus Delma (Kluge 1974). |
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