Can anyone tell me the diff between

[paleoherp]

i was just wondering what the difference between N.levis and N.levis livis is.
i had a look at the WA museum web site and they have one down as common smooth nob tail and one down as smooth nob tail and they show the common has a wider distribution but apart from that im not sure what the diff is, or maybe i haven't seen enough pic's. ?

 

[peterjohnson64]

levis levis is simply a sub-species of levis (sorry, can't do italics), there is also lveis pilbarensis and levis occidentalis.

Fo rmore info go here: http://www.pilbarapythons.com/nephruruslevis.htm

 

[paleoherp]

Maybe someone could post some pic's of the two because when i search for pic's and info i could swear sometimes that im looking at the same lizard.

cheers Jay

 

[peterjohnson64]

Yes you are right. It takes a trained eye to tell them apart. I would hate to do it from scratch. There was a great article in Reptiles Australia. Maybe you could chase up a back copy.

 

[JasonL]

The common name of "Smooth Knobtail is also used for N. laevissimus, and N. levis levis can go under "Three Lined Knobtail"

 

[paleoherp]

i understand that they are all subs, but im finding it difficult to see the diffs between the two, as you say peter it takes a trained eye to pick the diff, and i have minimal exp. with geckos but have recently taken an interest in this group and am trying to get my head around the taxonomy

 

[JasonL]

They have a general look between them once you have seen enough of each, but of course there are the ones that look like they could go either way, I think in John McGraths article in RA, he says you need an electron microscope to look at scalation on the neck ??? thats from memory though, best look it up ( my memory usually only goes as far back as late yesterday )

 

[paleoherp]

i know what you mean with the memory thing Jason....what were we talking about, HA HA

thanks guys
cheers Jason

 

[paleoherp]

Anyone got pic's ?

 

[Ishah]

Do you have a field guide handy at all? Or any kind of herp/gecko books? If not, try going to the library and flicking through A Complete Guide to Australian Reptiles (or what ever the exact wording for it is lol) Errm, otherwise, Mike Swans new Lizard book, or even the most recent Cogger book might have different pics of them in there.

Cogger usually has drawings and diagrams of the different scalation and distinguishing features to look out for in determining which sub sp. it is etc, some of the other field guides etc may or may not have it, I really cant remember, but worth having a look anyways, I havent flicked through those books in a few months, even thought they are sitting right near me!

Otherwise, you could always try doing a few searches on here, and specify that you only want to look in the for sale ads and do one on each of the different sub-species, Sellers usually have shots of the animals they are trying to sell so that the buyers can decide whether it meets their requirements looks, (pattern, colour etc) and health-wise...

Btw, you most likely knew all of this, but forgot to think of it hehehe and Im just bored and finding myself not tired enough to sleep, :lol: sorry!

Hope that helps anyways

 

[paleoherp]

me too!!, sleep thing that is

 

[Ishah]

Hahaha, Im naturally nocturnal aka a night owl, only bummer is, nothings open when you are awake, and everyone shuns you for sleeping in the day and not the night! But I really do function better at night, its when my brain starts ticking and really thinking! Oh and only limited amounts of your friends are awake, unless they are doing nightshift lol!

Anyways, if you have any herp books, have a flick through them again, maybe you will find something...(Im actually feeling the urge to design some snake and lizard enclosures and a rodent rack so I can build them tomorrow, but if I stay awake any longer, I wont have the energy to do it, and definately wont have the energy to stay awake all night babysitting! - If I had known they were going to see the Angels play, Id of said no and went myself! Grrrr! - I usually stay awake til anywhere between 3-6am most nights!:shock

Bloody hell! Can I talk or what?!
Damn insomnia babble! lol

 

[paleoherp]

Yeah my circadian rhythm is all out of whack, I'll sit here till im tiered and go to bed and then when i get in bed i feel wide awake and i look like this :shock: then i feel tired all day and it starts all over again

 

[Ishah]

That is so the same as me right now! But my laptop is right next to my bed, so Im actually IN bed at the same time im writing this! Hmmm well atleast I have a max of 3hrs to wait, then I will definately fall asleep lol (its just started to be my usual bed time, well its in my usual range now anyways LOL!

Oh! and errr, dont know if you know this, you most likely do, but when looking through the books/pics for the difference between levis etc, dont go by colour! lol! One of the main things that got drilled into us when learning about reptiles, NEVER go by colours, leave it as a last last LAST resort when keying them out etc etc as they arent always the same colours etc, go by something more definate and unvarying like scale counts etc we got told Haha that subject was the best (& most useful and educational) so far!