The Adelaide pygmy blue-tongue skink (''Tiliqua adelaidensis'') or pygmy bluetongue is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

skink Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. Ski ...

, a lizard in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Scincidae. The species was previously thought to be extinct and only rediscovered in 1992. Known locations of the species extend from

Kapunda Kapunda is a town on the Light River and near the Barossa Valley in South Australia. It was established after a discovery in 1842 of significant copper deposits. The population was 2,917 at the 2016 Australian census. The southern entrance ...

in the Light River valley, about north east of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, northwards to

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

, about north of Adelaide.

Rediscovery and conservation

Found only in the

Mid North The Mid North is a region of South Australia, north of the Adelaide Plains and south of the Far North and the outback. It is generally accepted to extend from Spencer Gulf east to the Barrier Highway, including the coastal plain, the southern ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, ''T. adelaidensis'' was for a time believed to be extinct. It was rediscovered in 1992, when a researcher found the remains of an adult male ''T. adelaidensis'' in the stomach contents of a dead brown snake, near Burra.Pygmy bluetongue lizard rediscovered in Mid-North South Australia
''The Advertiser'', 3 November 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2016. The pygmy bluetongue is now considered to be an endangered species. The habitat and range of pygmy bluetongues is very restricted, as individuals live in old spider burrows within areas of unploughed native grasslands, which have become rare due to extensive development of cereal cropping throughout the region. Since their rediscovery, surveys have estimated that 5,000 to 7,000 individuals live in scattered areas between

and

.Pygmy blue-tongue lizards, once thought extinct, bred in SA's Monarto Zoo
''ABC News'', 24 February 2016, Retrieved 24 February 2016. Conservation efforts to maintain the species include the establishment of the Tiliqua Pygmy Bluetongue Reserve near Burra, by the

Nature Foundation SA Nature Foundation, formerly The National Parks Foundation and Nature Foundation SA Inc. (NFSA), is the largest non-government nature conservation organisation based in South Australia. It was founded in October 1981, and is supported by the Go ...

in 2010. In February 2016 Zoos SA announced the first success of a captive breeding program of pygmy bluetongues at

Monarto Zoo Monarto Safari Park, formerly known as Monarto Zoological Park and Monarto Zoo, is a open-range zoo located in South Australia administered by the Royal Zoological Society of South Australia. It is located at Monarto, approximately from Ade ...

. In January 2020 researchers at

Flinders University Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...

won an

Australian Research Council The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the primary non-medical research funding agency of the Australian Government, distributing more than in grants each year. The Council was established by the ''Australian Research Council Act 2001'', ...

Linkage Projects grant of more than A$400,000 for a five-year project aimed at saving the lizard from extinction due to climate change. The study involves relocating about 100 lizards into a large holding pen on a sheep farm at

Tarlee Tarlee is a town in South Australia. The origin of the name is uncertain, but it is thought to be a corruption of the name Tralee in Ireland. The township of Tarlee was advertised as readied for sale by auction in 1867. Tarlee is in the lower Mid ...

, about north of Adelaide, which is a few degrees cooler than the most northerly habitat of the species.

Ecology

When artificial burrows were offered in the field to ''T. adelaidensis'' lizards, all the lizards preferred vertical rather than angled burrows and juvenile lizards preferred more shallow burrows than did adult lizards. Observation of 36 artificial burrows showed a significant increase in lizard numbers during 2001–2002 and over three surveys. The study suggests that this local increase in population could be due to lizards locating appropriate burrows much easier. The study results suggest that artificial burrows could be a tool for conservation management of this species. Another study compared the fitness of female lizards in natural burrows and artificial ones, over a three-year period. The study showed that the female in the artificial burrows had a better body condition, and produced larger offspring with better body conditions.

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Rediscovery and conservation

Ecology

References

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Further reading