This conservation advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 26/3/2008
Lerista allanae Conservation Advice - Page 1 of 3
A statement for the purposes of approved conservation advice
(s266B of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999)
Approved Conservation Advice for
Lerista allanae (Allan’s Lerista)
This Conservation Advice has been developed based on the best available information at the
time this conservation advice was approved.
Description
Lerista allanae, Family Scincidae, also known as the Allan’s Lerista, Retro Slider, Greater
Robust Fine-lined Slider or Allan’s Skink (EPA, 2007), is a grey to grey-brown burrowing
skink, growing to 9 cm with darker-edged individual scales forming five longitudinal lines of
dark spots. Its sides are paler with individual scales finely spotted with dark-brown, a whitish
belly, and dark-spotted scales on the throat. Forelimbs are absent, but a faint groove on each
side marks their position. A single digit is present on the hind limbs (Cogger, 2000; EPA,
2007).
Conservation Status
The Allan’s Lerista is listed as endangered. This species is eligible for listing as endangered
under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cwlth)
(EPBC Act) as, prior to the commencement of the EPBC Act, it was listed as endangered
under Schedule 1 of the Endangered Species Protection Act 1992 (Cwlth). Allan’s Lerista is
also listed as endangered under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 (Queensland).
Distribution and Habitat
Thirteen museum specimens comprise the total knowledge base of the Allan’s Lerista. All 13
specimens were collected from only three localities in central Queensland —Retro, Logan
Downs and Clermont (Covacevich et al., 1996a ; EPA, 2007). This species was considered
rare even when discovered in the 1930s, and may now be extinct (Covacevich et al. 1996b;
Covacevich 2000). The Allan’s Lerista occurs (or occurred) within the Fitzroy (Queensland)
Natural Resource Management Region.
The Allan’s Lerista is only known to occur in the root systems of grass tussocks on black soils
within undulating plains formed on basalt, shale, sandstone and unconsolidated sediments of
the Oxford land system in the central Brigalow Biogeographic Region (Covacevich et al.,
1996b; EPA, 2007). Broad habitat types likely to occur within this Region include open
grasslands, scattered gums, moderately heavy groves of tea trees and occasional Bottle trees
on black and red soil (Slevin, 1955).
The distribution of this species overlaps with the following EPBC Act-listed threatened
ecological communities: Brigalow (Acacia harpophylla dominant and co-dominant) and
Blugrass (Dichanthium spp.) dominant grasslands of the Brigalow Belt Bioregions (North and
South).
Threats
The main identified threats to the Allan’s Lerista include a combination of habitat loss; stock
overgrazing; pasture improvement; and intensive cropping (EPA, 2007).
Research Priorities
Research priorities that would inform future regional and local priority actions include:
• Undertake survey work in suitable habitat and potential habitat to locate any populations.
This conservation advice was approved by the Minister / Delegate of the Minister on: 26/3/2008
Lerista allanae Conservation Advice - Page 2 of 3
• If surviving populations are located, design and implement a monitoring program,
critically evaluate habitat requirements and threats, and identify key management
requirements.
Regional and Local Priority Actions
The following regional and local priority recovery and threat abatement actions can be done
to support the recovery of the Allan’s Lerista.
Habitat Loss, Disturbance and Modification
• Establish appropriate reserves to secure the survival of the species.
• Identify and manage threats to areas of vegetation that contain populations/occurrences of
the Allan’s Lerista.
• Identify populations of high conservation priority.
• Monitor the progress of recovery actions, including the effectiveness of management
actions and the need to adapt them if necessary.
• Manage any changes to hydrology that may result in changes to the water table levels,
increased run-off, sedimentation or pollution.
• Minimise adverse impacts from land use at known and potential habitat areas.
• Investigate formal conservation arrangements such as the use of covenants, conservation
agreements or inclusion in reserve tenure.
Trampling, Browsing or Grazing
• Develop and implement a stock management plan for roadside verges, reserves and
travelling stock routes.
• Manage known sites on private property to ensure appropriate grazing regimes are
conducted.
• Prevent grazing pressure at known sites on leased crown land through exclusion fencing
or other barriers.
Animal Predation or Competition
• Continue baiting to control population numbers of feral animals.
Conservation Information
• Raise awareness of the Allan’s Lerista within the local community.
Enable Recovery of Additional Sites and/or Populations
• Undertake appropriate seed collection and storage.
• Investigate options for linking, enhancing or establishing additional populations.
This list does not necessarily encompass all actions that may be of benefit to the Allan’s
Lerista, but highlights those that are considered to be of highest priority at the time of
preparing the conservation advice.
Existing Plans/Management Prescriptions that are Relevant to the Species
• Draft national recovery plan for Queensland Brigalow Belt Reptiles (in prep).
Information Sources:
Cogger, H 2000, Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia - 6th edition, Reed New Holland, Sydney.
Couper, PJ, & Ingram, GJ 1992, ‘A new species of skink of Lerista from Queensland and a re-appraisal of L.
allanae (Longman)’, Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, vol. 32, pp. 55-59.
Covacevich, J. 2000, Brigalow Belt blues. Wildlife Australia Summer 2000, pp. 15-19.
Covacevich, JA, Couper, PJ, & McDonald, KR 1996a, Reptiles of Queensland's Brigalow Biogeographic
Region: Distributions, Status and Conservation, ANCA, Canberra.
www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/species/pubs/1378-conservation-advice.pdf
