Government of South Australia South Australian Arid Lands Natural Resources Management Board

Student BRONZEBACK LEGLESS FACT SHEET Ophidiocephalus taeniatus

The Bronzeback Legless Lizard’s inoffensive can make a high-pitched squeak and appearances oppose its ferocious appetite shed their tails. and its capacity to successfully capture and consume prey of quite considerable size. It HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION eats mainly insects, such as beetles, termites Bronzebacks have a patchy distribution and and small cockroaches, as well as spiders. mainly live along temporary watercourses To eat things larger than what will fit into flowing out of stony tablelands and its mouth it grips its prey with its jaws, and breakaways. They are found in a relatively performs a crocodile-like death roll to pull small area, in a strip that runs north from bite-sized pieces off. These highly coordinated around Coober Pedy, towards the Northern maneuvers barely shift the leaf litter in which Territory border. the Bronzeback lives. Bronzebacks are very secretive and spend almost all of their time Bronzebacks prefer undisturbed, deep leaf in deep leaf litter, usually emerging only if litter that is underlain with a layer of loose sand disturbed by trampling by large , and decomposed leaves. flooding or if making a rare change of home. Potential Threats to Bronzebacks IDENTIFICATION Bronzebacks persist in small local populations in narrow, linear pockets of ideal litter habitat The Bronzeback has a slender snake-like body along watercourses making them vulnerable with a long blunt-ended tail and a rounded to localized declines and extinctions. Heavy snout that is distinctively wedge-shaped in stocking along watercourses can result in profile. The bodies of adults are slightly thinner the modification of these patches of habitat, than a normal drinking straw and they can making them unsuitable for Bronzebacks. grow to 27cm and weigh about 5.5 grams. Natural events such as flash flooding may The back is uniformly coloured while the top also wash away the leaf litter that they live of the head is greyish-white. The belly is a in. In this arid environment, this leaf litter may slightly mottled whitish grey and the sides take years or decades to replenish enough for are brownish grey. When handled all legless Bronzebacks to move back in.

focus question Why is leaf litter important to Bronzeback Legless Lizards?

Bronzeback Legless Lizards appear to prefer Gidgee lined Bronzeback Legless Lizard. Photograph by Harald Ehmann. watercourses. Photograph by Harald Ehmann. CONTACT US Pernatty Knob-tail South Australian Arid Lands Natural Resources Nephrurus deleani Management Board Pernatty Knob-tailed are ground-dwelling Island Lagoon and Lake Macfarlane and around www.saalnrm.sa.gov.au nocturnal lizards, leaving their burrows at night Pernatty Lagoon. to hunt for their food in their sandy habitats. They P. (08) 8648 5977 Pernatty Knob-tail Geckos are found on the eat a range of invertebrates, including spiders, crests and slopes of sand dunes. E. aridlands@saalnrm. scorpions, beetles and other insects, and may sa.gov.au even eat smaller of geckoes! When hunting, they typically walk in circuits from their

Marla home burrow, with frequent stops and occasional Oodnadatta short rushes for prey. Before dawn they return focus to their home burrow, or dig a new one and then question backfill the opening from the inside to conceal Draw a range of the entrance. Their burrows are up to 3 metres Ceduna food that a Pernatty in length and 90cm deep to avoid high summer Port Augusta Knob-tailed Gecko temperatures. Pernatty Knob-tails are active on warm nights only,Distributio inn temperatures between 12 Distribution might eat. ADELAIDE degrees and 35 degrees celsius.

IDENTIFICATION Pernatty Knob-tailednone Geckoes grow to 13cm Map courtesy of DWLBC long and can weigh up to 25 grams. They have a large head and short thin tail, which usually has a ball-like end. Individuals that have lost their Potential threats to tails and grown another do not have the knob-tail pernatty knob-tailed geckos ending. There are other similar species of knob- The abundance and distribution data for this Printed on 100% tail geckoes. The most common of these is the species is so recent that we are unable to assess Australian recycled paper Smooth Knob-tailed Gecko (Nephrurus levis), whether there has been any long-term change in which has a much fatter knob-tail. its distribution or abundance.

DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT In the short term we know that foxes and cats This species is only known for an area of about prey on these geckos. Foxes also compete with 500 square kilometres. It occurs north of Port the geckos for food, as the diet of both species Augusta, to the east of Lake Torrens, near includes a high number of adult scorpions.

Pernatty Knob-tail Gecko. Photograph by Harald Ehmann. Pernatty Knob-tail Gecko habitat. Photograph by Harald Ehmann.