# Diplodactylus vittatus



## zen (Feb 14, 2006)

Commonly known as a Stone or Wood Gecko, this little species is a real character. They stand up with their belly off the ground when they feel threatened and "bark". 

These two shots are of the same specimen.
They illustrate how much lighting effects colour in photographs.
The first shot is with a flash, which tends to bleach the colours.
The second shot is taken in natural sunlight, just before sunset, hence the warm tones.


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## jordo (Feb 14, 2006)

Nice gecko Zen, how big do they get? Is that one a female?


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## Davem54 (Feb 14, 2006)

nice little fella, good pics Zen


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## zen (Feb 14, 2006)

Hi Jordo and Dave. I'm glad you like the pics. I've got some better shots if you want to see them. These two pics show how important lighting is. 

The adults average just 5 cm snout-vent length, with a total of about 8 cm. Though some references put the total at 6-7 cm. 
A relatively small species but they've got heaps of attitude initially. They quickly lose this defensive behaviour though. 
This specimen is a gravid female I think.


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## Davem54 (Feb 14, 2006)

I seem to remember them at Springwood when I was a kid, would that be right???


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## zen (Feb 14, 2006)

Spot on Dave 8) 
This one is a Springwood specimen. Lucky guess mate!


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## zen (Feb 14, 2006)

Here's another one.


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## Davem54 (Feb 14, 2006)

Your camera is just humming zen. Great. Took this with my new camera ,lowlight , no flash


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## zen (Feb 14, 2006)

Nice one Dave. Great shot under those conditions.

Although we're going off topic here, I'm curious as to what species of _Litoria_ it is? I can't quite tell from the pic.

Did it have tiny green dots like this _Litoria peronii_?


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## Davem54 (Feb 14, 2006)

Yes thats the one that I often find around home. I am sure my pic is the same one . Dave


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## zen (Feb 14, 2006)

*Litoria peronii*

Cool. 8) Thanks for the confirmation.
I've seen amazing leaps of 2-3 metres, albiet from a higher branch to a lower one, with extraordinary accuracy. Very impressive nonetheless.


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## zen (Feb 14, 2006)

Back to the Stone Gecko now. 
Here's a pic that shows the raised body strut that gives these little fellows such charm.


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## zulu (Feb 14, 2006)

*re Diplodactylus*

Nice gex zen,say hello to Dr tonk and tiliqua for me


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## MrBredli (Feb 14, 2006)

Found this one at Glenbrook about 5 years ago


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## Sdaji (Feb 14, 2006)

Stone Geckoes became one of my favourite species after I found one in central NSW a few years ago. I didn't realise it at the time, but it was quite unusual and I suspect it was actually a different species (this whole group has been split up substantially and no doubt more splits will come). As I didn't realise it was unusual,and back then I wasn't really interested in taking photographs, I didn't bother photographing it, which I now kick myself for.

Here is a very nice one (at least I thought so), from a population which will probably remain in D.vittatus.






I haven't seen them around Sydney, are the ones you've photographed fairly typical of the area? I've seen vittatus in Victoria which look somewhat intermediate between the ones you've displayed and the one in my picture. I have pictues of a fair few vittatus which I can post if people are interested.


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## Dicco (Feb 14, 2006)

Sdaji, I'd love to see your vittatus pics,


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## MrBredli (Feb 14, 2006)

I've found heaps of D. vittatus all over Sydney, and they have generally all looked the same as the ones pictured above (excluding yours Sdaji).


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## Sdaji (Feb 14, 2006)

Thanks, MrBredli.

Does anyone have pictures of them from other localities?


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## Rennie (Feb 14, 2006)

Very cute little critters, its hard to believe those first 2 pics are the same gecko.


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## zen (Feb 14, 2006)

That's a superb pic Sdaji. Magnificent shot of a gorgeous specimen! 
What camera did you use?
I'd love to see more of your pics.

MrBredli, your Glenbrook specimen looks very similar to the Springwood one. Not surprising, considering it's just up the road.
The reduced dorsal "zig-zag" of Blue Mountains specimens seems characteristic of the area. 
Whereas, I've caught a specimen in Turramurra on the North Shore of Sydney that had a stronger, more classic zig-zag down the back. But that was 20 years ago so the memory is unreliable as I didn't take pics. 

Here's a shot of the same specimen that reveals a lovely softness intrinsic to this species. They are velvet to the touch and even my partner thinks they're cute. :wink:


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## Sdaji (Feb 14, 2006)

Thanks, zen. It was taken with a nikon 3100. I don't have that camera any more and they no longer make them. Cool huh? :lol:

I've seen some with the perfect dorsal band, some with the 'classic' zig zag down the back and also a few with blotches. In some cases, the dorsal blotches look the same as the lateral spots. I have some half baked hypotheses about the patterns, but it will take me a few years to test them...

I'm still not sure which pattern I prefer. Some are somewhat boring, by vittatus standards, while others are absolutely exquisite, but I'm yet to see one I don't think is gorgeous. Taxonomically, I think this group is very complex.

This thread does a zillion times more for me than any chondro thread! Thanks everyone.


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## zulu (Feb 14, 2006)

*re Diplodactylus*



MrBredli said:


> I've found heaps of D. vittatus all over Sydney, and they have generally all looked the same as the ones pictured above (excluding yours Sdaji).


 yeh mostly similar around sydney mr bredli ive found them at heathcote and waterfall,they was also found on the cumberland plains and have been found at rookward cemetry.The last one i found was near the ADI site at shanes park sydney west under rubbish.


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## Livewire (Feb 14, 2006)

More pics, if possible. These little guys are great.


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## jordo (Feb 14, 2006)

Sdaji, some of these guys have a nice stripe down their back, what do you reckon its worth? :wink:
Nice geckos, more pics would be great.


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## krusty (Feb 14, 2006)

very nice...........


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## zen (Feb 14, 2006)

A Nikon, well that explains it, with all due respect Sdaji. 
I don't mean to take anything away from your artistry 8) 
The composition is perfect in your pic, as well as the lighting, depth of field etc.
Nikons have got the best lenses in the world & it shows in your pic.

I'm glad your enjoying the thread.

Here's another pic.






Their camouflage is pretty good on the sandstone.

An interesting feature of this species is the small retractile claw on the extremity of each digit (Jenkins & Bartell, 1980). This is an adaptation to their broad range of habitats from forests to arid scrubs.

Another interesting fact about this species is that they penetrate into cool damp regions better than any other _Diplodactylus_ (Wilson & Swan, 2003).


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## Pike01 (Feb 14, 2006)

Heres a brissy one.


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## Pike01 (Feb 14, 2006)

And a couple of hatchies


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## Sdaji (Feb 14, 2006)

Thanks, pike! They're quite different from the hatchlings I've seen (I've never seen QLD hatchlings).

With the possible exception of the Green Children's Python thread, I can't recall enjoying any APS thread as much as this one. Does anyone have pictures of Victorian or SA vittatus? I can't seem to find any of my Vic pictures, I may have lost them. I've never seen a SA vittatus and only a couple of pictures.


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## zen (Feb 14, 2006)

Yeah, it's interesting to see Brisbane specimens Pike.
The vertebral zig-zag is much more prominent.

I'm surprised how faint the hatchlings pattern is though.  
I wonder if this is typical of the species (?)
They're so tiny!


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## Sdaji (Feb 14, 2006)

The hatchlings I've seen looked nothing like their parents. They change dramatically as they grow, it's really wonderful to watch them change


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## zen (Feb 14, 2006)

Did they have a reduced pattern like Pikes, Sdaji?


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## Rennie (Feb 15, 2006)

Sdaji said:


> the Green Children's Python thread



Where is that? I looked around but can't find it, is it gone or just hiding from me? That sounds interesting, were they just olive green or a bright "GTP" green?

Sorry to go off topic everyone, I like the gecko's (those hatchies are adorable pike1) but that really caught my attention.


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## MrBredli (Feb 15, 2006)

I was just looking through some photos and found this one. Please excuse the poor quality, i just took this pic (of the photo) with my digi as my scanner is not hooked up. I have some more photos around somewhere that i'll try to find.


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## Davem54 (Feb 15, 2006)

yes sdjai please post some more . i am interested.


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## Sdaji (Feb 15, 2006)

The Green Children's Python thread was started soon after someone put up a wanted ad for green olive pythons. I think it started something like "Hi all, I've after some Green Children's Pythons, not the dull olive green ones, or the pale washed out green phase, I want the bright lime green ones". I think it had subtle references to other things going on on APS at the time and wouldn't be as funny if you read it now. There aren't any of either species worth calling green, but as in both of those old threads, no doubt someone will claim otherwise. Sorry to go off topic.

zen: the hatchlings I've seen were speckled. They had what you might call 'reduced' pattern, but they weren't like Pike's. The pattern completely changed as they grew and the way in which they changed seemed quite strange. Most species which have dramatic changes (think chondroes) have elements in the original pattern which are retained in the adult pattern, even though they're different. These geckoes didn't. I'm not sure if that's typical of the whole "species". It looks like Pike's might hatch out patternless and then gradually take on the adult pattern, which would be less unusual. Perhaps they start off patternless then develop the juvenile pattern, then develop the adult pattern. That would be even more cool!


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## zen (Feb 15, 2006)

MrBredli, that's a classic Stone Gecko defensive pose in your pic. Well illustrated!
Thanks for putting it up, as I don't have any shots of that classic posture.

Sdaji, that's very interesting what you write regarding the hatchling transformation.
Their change in pattern and colour is dramatic. The hatchlings Pike posted look almost translucent to me. 
It'll be fascinating to see how the species is divided up, whether it be into sub-species or seperate species. That specimen of yours looks significantly different from the Sydney and Brisbane one's. 
I vaguely remember reading somewhere that there's a marked division around Goulburn I think(?). I'll try and find it.


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## zen (Feb 15, 2006)

Here's a blow-up of the hind foot showing the small retractile claw mentioned earlier and the divided subdigital lamellae.




Please excuse the pixelations.


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## Jason (Feb 15, 2006)

its great to see some pictures of these geckoes, for years they have been my favorite species after keeping one about 7 yrs ago. i would deffinatly get some more (if i could ever find someone with them).


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## zen (Feb 16, 2006)

*Scientific paper on Diplodactylus vittatus*

M. King reckons *there are 5 distinct races of Diplodactylus vittatus, each of the five races being morphologically distinguishable and that each is regarded as a biological species*.


Scientific paper abstract:-



> Chromosomal and morphometric variation in the gekko Diplodactylus vittatus (Gray)
> 
> M King
> Abstract
> ...


 via CSIRO Publishing


I haven't read the full article. Has anyone picked its brains or know what the breakdown is?


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