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Delma grayii SMITH, 1849

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Higher TaxaPygopodidae, Gekkota, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Side-barred Delma, Gray's Legless Lizard 
SynonymDelma grayii SMITH 1849
Delma grayii — KLUGE 1974: 94
Delma grayii — KLUGE 1993
Delma grayii — COGGER 2000: 288
Delma grayii — WILSON & SWAN 2010 
DistributionAustralia (Western Australia)

Type locality: interior of Southern Africa (in error), restricted to Australia by Gray (1867); further restricted to Kalamunda National Park, 13 mi E Perth, W. A. by Kluge (1974).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.8.30.81 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Grayii differs from all other species in the genus Delma in possessing the following combination of character states: a) posterior nasal almost always widely separated from nostril, b) usually six loreal scales, c) usually five anterior orbital scales, d) almost always five frontal scales, e) fourth supralabial almost always below orbit, f) usually 15 gular scales, g) ventral scales in males and females average 68.5, h) usually 16 midbody scale rows, i) one pair of ventral body scales enlarged, j) three preanal scales, k) dorsal head bands absent, I) lateral lip pattern almost always present and conspicuous, m) dorsal body scales sometimes possess dark margins, n) throat and ventral body surfaces immaculate (Figs. 56-7). (Kluge 1974) 
CommentSympatry: Broadly sympatric with Delma fraseri.

Limb morphology: Limbless. 
EtymologyNamed after British zoologist John Edward Gray (1800 – 1875), Keeper of Zoology at the British Museum in London from 1840 until 1874, although he started working at the museum in 1824. 
References
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • Davis, R.A.; Wilcox, J. 2008. Range extension of the Western Heath Dragon Rankinia adelaidensis and Gray's legless lizard Delma grayii with notes on the distribution of southern Swan coastal plain reptiles. Western Australian Naturalist 26 (1): 67-70 - get paper here
  • Gray, J.E. 1867. The Lizards of Australia and New Zealand in the Collection of the British Museum. London: British Museum
  • How, RA, Cowan, MA, Teale, RJ, Schmitt, LH. 2020. Environmental correlates of reptile variation on the Houtman Abrolhos archipelago, eastern Indian Ocean. J Biogeogr. 47: 2017– 2028 - get paper here
  • Kluge, A. G. 1974. A taxonomic revision of the lizard family Pygopodidae. Miscellaneous Publications, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, (147): 1-221. - get paper here
  • Kluge, Arnold G. 1976. Phylogenetic relationships in the lizard family Pygopodidae: an evaluation of theory, methods and data. Miscellaneous Publications, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (152): 1-72 - get paper here
  • Maryan, Bradford 1985. Delma grayii Smith in an urban area near Perth, Western Australia. Herpetofauna (Sydney) 16 (1-2): 29
  • Maryan,B., Aplin,K., & Adams,M. 2007. Two new species of the Delma tincta group (Squamata: Pygopodidae) from northwestern Australia. Rec. West. Austr. Mus. 23: 273-305 - get paper here
  • Smith, A. 1838. Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa, consisting chiefly of Figures and Descriptions of the Objects of Natural History collected during an Expedition into the Interior of South Africa, in the years 1834, 1835, and 1836 . . . Vol. 3, Reptilia. Smith, Elder, and Co., London [This series was published in 28 parts; see Waterhouse 1880, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880:489-491, and Jentink 1893, Notes Leyden Mus. 15:182, for publication dates and contents.] - get paper here
  • Smith, A. 1849. Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa. 3 (Reptiles). Smith, Elder, and Co., London [facsimile published by Winchester Press, Johannesburg, 1977] - get paper here
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
 
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