Australia’s earless dragon is so rare it was thought extinct, until two ecologists came across one in the wild

A Critically Endangered reptile known only to occur in the grasslands around Melbourne has been spotted for the first time in more than 50 years

By Megan Shersby

Published: Tuesday, 01 August 2023 at 14:21 PM

Deep within the grasslands west of Melbourne, Australia, a population of Victorian grassland earless dragons has been quietly living and reproducing out of sight of humans.

So out of sight, that there hasn’t been a verifiable record since 1969 despite a number of targeted searches, and conservationists feared that the species was extinct.

However, in January 2023, two ecologists were out surveying for another grassland lizard and found one of the dragons.

Initially unsure of the species, they took a number of photographs and then released it back into the wild.

Morphological comparisons against specimens held by Museums Victoria indicated a high likelihood that it was the Victorian grassland earless dragon, and this was confirmed later by genetic analysis.

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To save the species, habitat conservation and the removal of non-native predators is being undertaken, and a breeding programme is being established at Zoos Victoria with wild-caught individuals.

“The key unknown is the genetic relatedness of the captive individuals,” says Garry Peterson of Zoos Victoria.

“It is likely that some of these animals will be closely related. Genetic genotyping of the animals allows us to understand their relationship to one another before conservation breeding begins in September.”