Pygopus lepidopodus
Silhouette: SeismicShrimp · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The common scaly-foot (Pygopus lepidopodus) is a widespread species of legless lizard in the Pygopodidae family. It is endemic to Australia. Mostly active at dusk or dawn (crepuscular), it can be nocturnal after high daytime temperatures. It lives in long grasses, heaths, and woodlands, and is most often seen on warm mornings, foraging for food. When threatened, the scaly-foot flashes its thick, fleshy tongue, in an apparent mimicry of snakes. Usually two eggs are laid per clutch.
Its diet includes a variety of invertebrates such as burrowing spiders. It is found mostly in the southern and eastern parts of Australia, though isolated populations occur in semiarid southern Queensland and tropical wet Queensland.
The scaly-foot is snake-like in appearance, up to 80 cm in length with a noticeable "keel" or ridge on the top. Variable in colours and pattern, it occasionally is grey with black spots or sometimes coppery brown with a grey tail. Other patterns and variations occur. Prominent limb flaps may be seen on close inspection, hence the name "scaly-foot".
Considered an easy to keep species, a license is required... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sydney | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Common Scaly-foot sighting in Sydney on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 31st most-seen of the 39 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Common Scaly-foot in Sydney on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Scaly-foot sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Sydney, in our data
Sydney is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Common Scaly-foot sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Scaly-foot is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Sydney (17 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
