Morphological and molecular assessment of Aprasia fusca and A. rostrata (Squamata: Pygopodidae), with a description of a new species from the Lake MacLeod region, Western Australia

Abstract

The Australian pygopodid genus Aprasia comprises a group of small, morphologically conservative, worm-like fossorial lizards, many of which are distributed along the west coast of the continent. This study reexamines the taxonomic distinctiveness of the two most northerly occurring species in Western Australia: A. fusca and A. rostrata, which are very similar in morphology. A combined morphological and allozyme analysis revealed these two species to be conspecific with A. rostrata considered a senior synonym of A. fusca. As a consequence, we have redescribed A. rostrata. The allozyme analysis also revealed a new species, named here as Aprasia litorea sp. nov. This species occurs in the Lake Macleod region, well to the south of its congener, A. rostrata, and the two species are diagnosable using a conservative suite of morphological and meristic characters.