Gnaraloo worm-lizard

The Gnaraloo worm-lizard (Aprasia litorea) is a species of legless lizard in the family Pygopodidae and order Gekkota.

The species is endemic to Western Australia and has only been recorded from a 1–10 km (0.62–6.21 mi) wide strip of coastal sand dunes and sandplains west of Lake Macleod.

Aprasia litorea was described as a new species by the herpetologist Brad Maryan and his colleagues in 2013 based on an adult male specimen collected from Gnaraloo in 2000.

[3] Aprasia is a genus of legless lizards in the family Pygopodidae, a group of nearly 50 species of geckoes with reduced limbs.

[4] Upon its description, A. litorea was thought to belong to the A. repens species-group, a clade of 8 species of Aprasia worm-lizards endemic to Western Australia.

When preserved in alcohol, the yellowish-brown of the upperside turns cream and the dark markings on the body and tail become darker and more conspicuous.

It also shares some important characteristics with A. haroldi, A. clairae, and A. repens, but does not co-occur with any of them and can be told apart from them by a combination of its scalation, size, and coloration.

[3] The species is endemic to Western Australia and has only been recorded from a 1–10 km (0.62–6.21 mi) wide strip of coastal sand dunes and sandplains west of Lake Macleod, from Gnaraloo south to Quobba Station.

The species is threatened by the modification of its habitat, caused by the growth of invasive weeds such as buffel grass and overgrazing and trampling by domestic sheep and goats.