Aprasia Success on Day 1!

Aprasia Success on Day 1!

After leaving the tile grids to settle in for six weeks, Cath and myself (Alix) checked the first half of our sites yesterday. While unfortunately our first site didn’t reveal anything under the tiles, the rest were a great success!

One of the two Aprasia we found on the 20-9-12

We found two of our target species Aprasia aurita (Eared Worm-lizard) along with multiple Lerista bougainvillii (Bougainville’s Skink), Hemiergis peronii (Lowlands Earless Skink) and a species of Lampropholis (Garden Skink). This project has several aims including locating new Aprasia sites, gathering information about known populations of Aprasia aurita, describing the habitat of Aprasia sites and identifying the best weather conditions to survey in. The two Aprasia we found were at a known site in the predicted area, however, this still provides important information about weather conditions and following more survey events, it will also help determine individual patterns of behaviour and home range.

We suspect the weather will be the key to our success, having already noticed a distinct difference between what we found at different times of the day. So bring on some warm, sunny spring days!

Alix with two of our target species, the Eared Worm-lizard.

 

Cath Dickson