Summary

Series of illustrations, proofs and prints of the Grassland Earless Dragon, Tympanocryptis pinguicolla, by John James Wild, for Plate 181 in The Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria. McCoy originally identified this lizard as the White-streaked Earless Lizard, Tympanocryptis lineata, a species found in the dry mallee regions of western Victoria.

Tympanocryptis pinguicolla inhabited grasslands on the basalt plains around Melbourne. In the Prodromus, McCoy notes that this species is "Not very uncommon at Essendon and plains near Sunbury, &c., to the north of Melbourne". Unfortunately, despite considerable survey work, Grassland Earless Dragons have not been recorded in Victoria since 1969, and may actually be extinct in this State (Robertson & Coventry 2019; Melville et al. 2019).

References:
Robertson, P. & Conventry J.A. 2019. Reptiles of Victoria. A Guide to Identification and Ecology. Clayton South : CSIRO Publishing, 329 pp.

Melville, J., Hutchinson, M., Clemann, N., Robertson, P. & Michael, D. 2018. Tympanocryptis pinguicolla. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22579A83494675. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T22579A83494675.en. Downloaded on 9 April 2019.

Description of Content

Tympanocryptis lineata, Earless Dragon by John James Wild (del & lith). Illustrations - Lithographic ink, pencil, watercolour on paper. Series of illustrations finally published as plate 181 in The Prodromus of Zoology by Frederick McCoy.

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