Marble-faced Delma

About the Marble-faced Delma

The Delma australis is often known as the southern legless lizard, or the marble-faced delma. This terrestrial lizard falls into the category of slender Pygopodidae, a legless lizard. There are 21 known species in the Pygopdidae family in Australia. Marble-faced delmas are endemic to Australia.

Delma australis was first described by Kluge in 1974. D. australis is a brown to reddish brown colour with a greyish undersurface and greyish lips. Their common name, marble-faced delma, comes from their grey-marble appearance. Distinctive features include ventral black bars on the top and sides of head with a short and rounded snout, and a tail twice the length of their body. Geographical variation have been observed in marble-faced delma populations, the intensity of head patterning and head form can vary between populations in different areas. There has been suggestions that there are a number of sub-species of D. australis, variation was discovered in Western Australia but further sampling is needed to determine if these differences were taxonomically significant.

Marble-faced delmas are classified as diurnal, however, have been observed in active states... Wikipedia →