# lizard ID - NT



## shell477 (Mar 6, 2013)

hi everyone... well in the short space of about 6 days I accepted a job, packed my bags and flew off to the NT, a big change from Victorian weather for sure...

I'm working in a remote community called Wadeye, an hour's flight from Darwin... pretty nice and cruisy so far... am here for 4 months with a few trips home to see my hubby in between...

this is the first pics of a local wild fellow... can anyone tell me what he is? he is so similar to my SAHD's but this guy was tiny..

Sent from my GT-I9305T using Tapatalk 2


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## GeckPhotographer (Mar 6, 2013)

Amphibolurus gilberti


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## Nephrurus (Mar 6, 2013)

Looks like a little ta-ta lizard. _Amphibolurus temporalis_. 

Swamplands lashtail (Amphibolurus temporalis) at the Australian Reptile Online Database | AROD.com.au

Given that it's a juvie and already has a well developed nuchal crest. The other similar species up there is the Gilbert's dragon.


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## Nephrurus (Mar 6, 2013)

GeckPhotographer said:


> Amphibolurus gilberti



You're probably right. I haven't laid eyes on either of those species for about 12 months.


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## GeckPhotographer (Mar 6, 2013)

> You're probably right. I haven't laid eyes on either of those species for about 12 months.



If the direction of keels on the dorsal scale is used as a the key identifying feature then I've seen plenty of Gilberts with very well defined nuchal crests. 

But I also haven't seen either species in some time and couldn't definitely say it's not A.temporalis.


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## Nephrurus (Mar 6, 2013)

Hang on. I'll go get the field guide out.


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## Nephrurus (Mar 6, 2013)

Someone better at Northern herps than me is going to have to lay the deciding vote. I just can't remember young gilberti with big prominent nuchal spines. I'll be up in the Kimberley in a few months, I'll photo some then. 

one of the morphological differences is the orientation of the keels on the scales. On temporalis they converge towards the midline, but on gilberti they're parallel. 

anyone else?


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## Stuart (Mar 6, 2013)

I would agree with Geckphotographer being a Gilberts. Coloration is distinctive of the top end type that you will see around the place. Eyes and tail stripes help me come to that decision too.


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## GeckPhotographer (Mar 6, 2013)

> one of the morphological differences is the orientation of the keels on the scales. On temporalis they converge towards the midline, but on gilberti they're parallel.



I know that in the field guide, but I'm not entirely sure that it's a good feature, there's certainly much more temporalis looking animals that key out to gilberti using that feature.


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## eipper (Mar 7, 2013)

Gowidon sp


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## lizardjasper (Mar 7, 2013)

Could be a Gilbert's or could be a white-lipped two-lined...


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## Darwin-boy (Mar 7, 2013)

_Lophognathus also known as the ta ta lizard but a juvi id say around 8 months to maybe a year i used to own a breed a few_


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## bohdi13 (Mar 7, 2013)

It's not a Ta-ta. I couldn't agree more with Gilbert's, living around the two species as a youngen.


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## GeckPhotographer (Mar 7, 2013)

> It's not a Ta-ta. I couldn't agree more with Gilbert's, living around the two species as a youngen.



Ta-ta is one accepted common name of Gilbert's and other Amphibolurus including A.longirostris, and A.temporalis.


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## longirostris (Mar 7, 2013)

eipper said:


> Gowidon sp



Hi Scott, I thought Gowidon was the proposed genus containing longirostris. From memory that paper confirming Wells and Wellingtons treatment of longirostris also suggested burnsii should go to Amphibolurus and that Lophognathus be reduced to 3 species including gilberti, temporalis and a new species centralis. Mind you I am at work in Melbourne and not able to access any of my records or publications so I will stand corrected if my memory is wrong and there is every likelihood I am horribly wrong because my recall on this is quite a bit hazy.


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