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:
... and the gecko
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:
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.
... Tessellated Geckos varied in colouration:
I saw a few Variegated Geckos Gehyra variegata) on the road and others on isolated trees.
typical habitat:
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:
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:
... and the gecko:
Beaked Geckos (Rhynchoedura ornata) were common on the red sandy flats with spinifex.
We saw a few Northern Spiny-tailed Geckos (Strophurus ciliaris). They were all crossing the road in areas with shrubs and small trees.
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.
Smooth Knob-tailed Geckos (Nephrurus levis) are always nice to see. This one looked very thin.
habitat:
We saw a single Burton's Snake Lizard (Lialis burtonis) on each of the two trips.
Regards,
David
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:
... and the gecko
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:
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.
... Tessellated Geckos varied in colouration:
I saw a few Variegated Geckos Gehyra variegata) on the road and others on isolated trees.
typical habitat:
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:
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:
... and the gecko:
Beaked Geckos (Rhynchoedura ornata) were common on the red sandy flats with spinifex.
We saw a few Northern Spiny-tailed Geckos (Strophurus ciliaris). They were all crossing the road in areas with shrubs and small trees.
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.
Smooth Knob-tailed Geckos (Nephrurus levis) are always nice to see. This one looked very thin.
habitat:
We saw a single Burton's Snake Lizard (Lialis burtonis) on each of the two trips.
Regards,
David