"It all started in 2001 when the grassland earless dragon was rediscovered near Mt Tyson," said Ann Whitton, president of Pittsworth District Landcare. The Grassland Earless Dragon (Tympanocryptis pinguicollaMitchell, 1948) was declared an endangered species on 15 April 1996 (Instrument No. National recovery plan for the grassland earless dragon tympanocryptis pinguicolla / Peter Robertson & Murray Evans ACT Department of Territory and Municipal Services Canberra 2010. Elusive and difficult to study, the dragons may continue to survive in Victoria in low numbers. Under section 101 of the Nature Conservation Act 2014, the Conservator of Flora and Fauna is responsible for preparing … If there was ever an animal that symbolised the city Australia's politicians call home, it would be an earless reptile. The eyrean earless dragon (sometimes referred to as the long-tailed earless dragon) has a vast distribution range within Australia from the arid interior of South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales, to tropical grasslands of the Gulf Region in Northern Queensland and Northern Territory. & Evans, Murray. Robertson, Peter. Living in open temperate grasslands, the Grassland Earless Dragon is threatened by habitat loss due to urban growth, changes in fire regime Tympanocryptis is differentiated from other genera within the family Agamidae by a tympanum covered with scales and a missing phalange in the fifth toe of the rear foot. Distribution of the species within this region The Grassland Earless Dragon is known or predicted to occur in the following sub-regions of the Other State Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation of Australia. Tympanocryptis tetraporophora, also known as Eyrean earless dragon or long tailed earless dragon, is one of 15 documented species of a relatively small dragon belonging to the genus Tympanocryptis. & Australian Capital Territory. DI1996-29 Nature Conservation Act 1980, under the former name Eastern Lined Earless Dragon Tympanocryptis lineata pinguicolla). Department of Territory and Municipal Services, issuing body. Grassland earless dragons were detected on the monitoring grids by using artificial burrows made from PVC drain pipe (31mm diameter x 142mm deep), lined with brown paint and sand, slipped inside an outer sleeve that remains in the ground (Figure 2), to facilitate checking for any sheltering specimens and to the Grassland Earless Dragon in Victoria was in 1969, with unconfirmed sightings continuing to 1990. Australian/Harvard Citation.