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moloch05

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The dry habitats of southwestern Queensland are good for a variety of gecko species. We saw several species of these lizards on all of our night drives in November 2006 and October 2007.

Fat-tailed Gecko (Diplodactylus conspicillatus
This was my first Fat-tailed Gecko from eastern Australia. It looks very different to those from Western Australia.

Here is the habitat of the fat-tail:
habitat8.jpg


... and the gecko
FatTailedGecko4.jpg


FatTailedGecko1.jpg


FatTailedGecko3.jpg




One of my targets in October was Diplodactylus immaculatus. Most of the range of this species is hard to access so I was happy to find one of these nicely coloured geckos.

I found it on a gibber flat like this:
geckoImmHabitat1.jpg


geckoImm1.jpg




Tessellated Geckos (Diplodactylus tessellatus) were the most common reptile on the road at night. They seemed to occur on both the barren clay pans and also gibber flats.
habitat16.jpg


habitat10.jpg


... Tessellated Geckos varied in colouration:
geckoTess2.jpg


geckoTess1.jpg


TessellatedGecko4-1.jpg


TessellatedGecko6.jpg




I saw a few Variegated Geckos Gehyra variegata) on the road and others on isolated trees.

typical habitat:
habitat0.jpg


gehyra2.jpg


gehyra1.jpg


GehyraVariegata2.jpg



I am not certain but I think that this Gehyra is possibly a Gehyra purpurascens. It looks different to me from the pics of the G. variegata:
GehyraVariegata1.jpg



Velvet geckos are one of my favourite genera of geckos. I was pleased to find this nicely-coloured Marbled Velvet Gecko (Oedura marmorata) in a Mulga Tree at night. Here is the tree:
geckoMarbHabitat3.jpg


geckoMarbHabitat2.jpg


... and the gecko:
geckoMarb3.jpg


geckoMarb2.jpg




Beaked Geckos (Rhynchoedura ornata) were common on the red sandy flats with spinifex.
habitat24.jpg


Beaked3.jpg


Beaked1.jpg


Beaked2.jpg




We saw a few Northern Spiny-tailed Geckos (Strophurus ciliaris). They were all crossing the road in areas with shrubs and small trees.
habitat14.jpg


geckoNorthern1.jpg


NorthernSpinyTailed2.jpg



This Jewelled Gecko (Strophurus elderi) was almost as exciting to see as the Fierce Snake. My son and I have searched for it before in Western Australia and western New South Wales but never before were successful. Finding this one was completely unexpected. I stopped to photograph one of the Northern Spiny-tailed Geckos and while I did this, my son walk around and examined a few spinifex. All at once he yelled out that he had found a Jewelled Gecko. I immediately ran over and then took these pics of this spectacular species. It was so agile as it scrambled between blades of the spinifex. I imagine that they are not really rare but just hard to find. They don't seem to venture out onto the roads or at least I have never found one on a road even though I have spent many hours driving through suitable habitat at night.
habitat3.jpg


termite1.jpg


jewelled2.jpg


Jewelled4.jpg


jewelled3.jpg


Jewelled5.jpg




Smooth Knob-tailed Geckos (Nephrurus levis) are always nice to see. This one looked very thin.
habitat:
habitat16.jpg


Nephrurus2.jpg


Nephrurus3.jpg


Nephrurus4.jpg


Nephrurus1.jpg



We saw a single Burton's Snake Lizard (Lialis burtonis) on each of the two trips.
Burtons2.jpg


Burtons1.jpg



Regards,
David
 
what a great thread thanks for sharing David
 
Unreal, you did extremely well. The channel country reminds me of the terrain out around Sandstone/ Mt Magnet/ Wiluna over here in WA. Harsh country during the day but comes alive at night.

Cheers
Jordan
 
Very nice David.
The knob tail is not really skinny, just a male... that's how they tend to look even in captivity.
 
David,
As with your thread before, absolutely stunning photo's.
I like the fact that you have included some habitat pictures, it opens up your mind to how these critters live and what type of terrain they are found in.

Thanks again for sharing with us.

Anymore pictures you have to show will I am sure be greatly received in future.

Cheers Neil
 
Great pics, stunning scenery and amazing little geckos. Diplodactylus is my fave genus by far. Did you see much invert life out at night?
 
Wooooooooooooooooow Man There Some Good Pics Havent Seen Geckos That Nice For A While
 
Great photos. Im really enjoying these threads of yours. The pics of the jewelled and marmorata are great. In relation to your threads about your trips to Tas, I just got back from Tas last night and although I was only there for work I did see an enormous amount of wildlife. To be exact, in the twenty minute trip from Launceston to our accomodation we saw two quolls, three wallabies and two possums.

Anyway back to the thread topic, great photos.
 
well done great pics keep up the good work.
 
Thanks, everyone, for the replies.


Jordan,
Do you have any pics from the goldfields area? If so, I would love to see them.


Craig,
Thanks for the knob-tail info. I did know about those differences.


hornet,
The most common inverts were large, flightless crickets on the road at night.

Chris.j
I return to Tassie in a couple of days. I would love to see the Quolls. I am hoping to spend a weekend in the Cradle Mountain area so maybe I will find them.


Regards,
David
 
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