# Photo guide to Australian Lizards -- pt1



## moloch05 (May 31, 2009)

*Warning ... this is a big post with a huge number of photos. It takes about 3 minutes to fully load with my dsl broadband connection*

As most of you know, Australia is a rich with herps. I doubt that there is any place where one could live here and not have a few species of reptiles in one's yard. I imagine that most people think of some of the spectacularly venomous elapids when they think of Australian reptiles but to me, it is the lizards that make Australia so unique. Diversity of the lizards in Australia is absolutely staggering and new species are found or described every year. The current list stands at roughly:

125 Geckos
41 Pygopods (basically, legless geckos)
424 Skinks
70 Dragons
27 Monitors

Since finding FieldHerpForum a few years ago, I have shifted from birding back to herping and now arrange my holidays to visit areas with reptiles that I have not yet seen. So far, I have traveled to many places in Queensland (QLD), New South Wales (NSW), Victoria (VIC, well, a little), South Australia (SA), Tasmania (TAS) and Western Australia (WA). I have not yet visited the rich areas of the Northern Territory mainly due to the ridiculously expensive car-hire costs in that state. 

In the last 3.5 years, I have been able to photograph about a third of the species of lizards. I decided to put together a set of posts to show these. Australian lizards are often poorly known and sometimes vary quite significantly in appearance from one locality to another ... or even at the same locality. Where possible, I have included a number of photos to demonstrate this variability. 

Australian lizards, especially the skinks, are often hard to identify in the field so I no doubt have a few errors in my identifications. If you recognize an error, I would appreciate hearing about this along with the field characters that you used to make the correct identification. 

This first of several posts will include the geckos, the second most diverse family of Aussie reptiles, the geckos, along with their close relatives, the Pygopods. These lizards are common in the dry, inland areas of the continent. They are found in all states except for Tasmania.


Note: when I reference photos, the sequence that I use will be the following:

1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9


Marbled Gecko (_Christinus marmoratus_) -- a common gecko in the cool, southern portion of Australia. When I lived in Melbourne (southern Victoria), I often saw them in my garden shed even in the winter. The following gecko was photographed a little north of Perth, WA.













Ring-tailed Gecko (_Cyrtodactylus tuberculatus_) -- these are big, impressive geckos that that live in a small area of the tropics in far north Queensland (FNQ). They are fast, alert lizards that climb well. One that I observed at Chillagoe NP jumped from branch to branch in a shrub when it spotted me and then leapt down to the rocks and raced into a crevice. Others were seen briefly on boulders before running into cover. This was a difficult species to approach and photograph.

































Cape Gecko (_Diplodactylus capensis_) -- This species was described last year. It is a species with a tiny distribution near Exmouth, WA. Formerly, it was considered to be an outlier of _D. mitchelli _but genetic studies demonstrated that it was more closely related to southern geckos such as _D. granariensis_. I saw a number of these geckos on both of my two trips to the Cape Range area near Exmouth. The geckos that I saw were sexually dimorphic with drab females and nicely marked males. 












Fat-tailed Geckos (_Diplodactylus conspicillatus_) -- A well named gecko that is abundant in WA. I have only seen a few in the eastern deserts. Photos 1, 4, 5, 7 and 8 are from the Windorah, QLD area. Geckos 2, 3 and 6 are from the goldfields region of WA. Gecko 9 is typical of those from Exmouth, WA. The western examples of _D. conspicillatus_ all had prominent stripes from the nostril to above the eyes. Eastern representatives seem to lack this feature. These geckos shelter in spider holes and use their thick tails to form a plug in the hole. They are termite specialists.
































Western Stone Gecko (_Diplodactylus granariensis_) -- I have only seen a few of these geckos. Geckos 1-6 are from Kalbarri NP, WA, and geckos 7-9 are from the Stirling Ranges.

































Ornate Stone Gecko (_Diplodactylus ornatus_) -- I have only seen a few of what I think to be this species of gecko. All were from the Shark Bay area of WA. Gecko 1-2 is a female and gecko 3 is a male.












Speckled Stone Gecko (_Diplodactylus polyophthalmus_) -- I have to thank Jordan (urodacus_au) for this gecko. It was from the hills near Perth, WA.














There are two very similar geckos found in the Shark Bay area of WA. The field guide mentions that the position of the rostral scale relative to the nostril is important for separating the two. I have never noticed a difference, but I do think that the head shape might be a more useful field character. The gecko on the left is _Diplodactylus pulcher_ from Kalbarri. Notice that it has a fairly thick and blunt snout. The gecko on the right has a more finely-pointed snout and I believe that it is _Diplodactylus klugei_. Both are thought to be termite specialists.












Kluge's Gecko (_Diplodactylus klugei_) -- a fairly recently described species (1998) that has a tiny distribution cantered around Shark Bay, WA. All of the following were observed near Monkey Mia on the central peninsula into Shark Bay. They all have the finely pointed snouts and I think that all are Kluge's Geckos. Notice the extreme variability in patterns. Geckos with striped backs were the most common but some had saddles.

































Beautiful or Fine-faced Gecko (_Diplodactylus pulcher_) -- this is a fairly common species in some areas. Like _D. klugei_, it varied greatly in pattern with some animals showing saddles and others stripes on their backs. Geckos 1-5 were from Kalbarri and 6-9 were from the goldfields region of central WA.

































_Diplodactylus klugei or pulcher_ -- these geckos were found near Hamelin Pool at the southern end of Shark Bay. Both _klugei_ and _pulcher_ might be expected from this area. I am not certain of the identities. Again, the geckos exhibited extreme variation in pattern and colouration.

























Tessallated Gecko (_Diplodactylus tessallutus_) -- this is a common gecko in the harsh, barren areas of western NSW, QLD and SA. They are fairly consistent in pattern. 

































Eastern Stone Gecko (_Diplodactylus vittatus_) -- a common gecko in dry eucalyptus forest in eastern Australia. This is a variable species. Some have a zigzag dorsal stripe while others have straight-edged stripes. When this gecko is startled, it will crouch into the leaf litter where its disruptive colours blend well (photos 3 & 5).

































Dubious Dtella (_Gehyra dubia_) -- an abundant "house" gecko in tropical/sub-tropical eastern Australia. 













Tree Dtella (_Gehyra variegata_) -- a widespread and common gecko. As its name implies, it is often arboreal and found on trees as well as houses.























Bynoe's or Prickly Gecko (_Heteronotia binoei_) -- a widespread species that is found over much of the Australian continent. Apparently, it consists of a species complex. Some populations are parthenogenic. Geckos 1, 2 and 8 are from Shark Bay, WA, gecko 3 is from the Warrumbungles, NSW. Gecko 4 and 5 is from Fowler's Gap, NSW. Gecko 6 is from Gundabooka, NSW. Gecko 7 is from Exmouth, WA and Gecko 9 is the most unusually marked and from Brewarrina, NSW.
































Desert Cave Gecko (_Heteronotia spelea_) -- this species has a small range in north western WA. The following gecko was photographed while on a night walk through a gorge at Karijini NP in the Pilbara.












White-spotted Ground Gecko (_Lucasium alboguttatum_) -- these are beautiful geckos from the west coast of WA. Gecko 3 was from Kalbarri NP and all of the others were from Shark Bay, WA.

































Gibber Gecko (_Lucasium byrnei_) -- this pretty gecko inhabits some harsh country where there are few plants. I have only found them in one area in northwestern NSW. In this area, however, it is the abundant species of reptile with large numbers on the road at night. I included a range of patterns with gecko 6 being particularly unmarked while gecko 9 was dark and strongly marked.

































Beaded Gecko (_Lucasium damaeum_) -- I have only encountered this single gecko near the western edge of its distribution in SA. From what I have read, it is a more common species in the southern mallee (shrubby eucalyptus woodland)/spinifex habitats, areas that I rarely have visited.












Pale-striped Ground Gecko (_Lucasium immaculatum_) -- I have only seen this single lizard west of Windorah, QLD. It was found on a gibber (small stones) flat where there were few plants.







Mottled Ground Gecko (_Lucasium squarrosum_) -- the gecko in photos 1-3 is definitely this species and was found near Hamelin Pool, WA. Geckos 4-6 now have me a little confused. Their head pattern matched that of the lizard from Hamelin Pool but I have seen photos of odd _L. stenodactylum_ that look a little like this. I will leave my identifications as tentatively L. squarrosum for the geckos in photos 4-6.























Box-patterned Gecko (_Lucasium steindachneri_) -- these are very nicely marked geckos with a big range from outback NSW up through the dry portions of the Cape York Peninsula, QLD. Gecko 1 was from the brigalow habitat of south-central QLD, gecko 2 was from Chillagoe area (Cape York) of QLD, gecko 3 was from Mutawintji NP, NSW and the remainder were from northwestern NSW.
































Sandplains Gecko (_Lucasium stenodactylum_) -- an abundant gecko in central, coastal WA. Photo 6 was from Sandfire but all of the others were from the Exmouth area. This was a variable species. Most showed a "Y" pattern on the back of the neck to the dorsal stripe.























Pilbara Ground Gecko (_Lucasium wombeyi_) -- I was originally convinced that these geckos from the Karijini area of the Pilbara, WA, were this species. Once again, I have seen photos of oddly marked _L. stenodactylum_ that now make me wonder about my original identification. For now, I will tentatively record them as _L. wombeyi_.














_Nactus cheverti_ -- this species was fairly common at Mission Beach and at Chillagoe NP, QLD. It has a small range in the tropics of FNQ.












Black Mountain Gecko (_Nactus galgajuga_) -- this gecko has a tiny range and is only found on the boulders of Black Mountain NP near Cooktown, QLD. It was common on the rocks at night. These geckos have big eyes and seem to be alert and wary. I also saw the large Ring-tailed Geckos on the same rocks and these are one of the predators of the Black Mountain Geckos.













Smooth Knob-tailed Geckos (_Nephrurus laevis_) -- I think that these are one of the most beautiful of the Australian geckos. They are big and certainly photogenic. Those from Shark Bay are especially bright and beautiful. Geckos 1, 2, 3, 4 and 9 are from Shark Bay, WA. Geckos 5 & 6 are from Windorah, QLD. Geckos 7 & 8 are from Kalbarri NP, WA.
































Northern Velvet Gecko (_Oedura castelnaui_) -- I have only seen two of these pretty geckos. Both were near Cooktown in FNQ.













Lesueur's Velvet Gecko (_Oedura lesueurii_) -- this species is common in rocky areas near Sydney and also in southern Queensland. By day, the geckos appear dark but at night, their colour is light and closely matches that of the rocks where they live.
























Marbled Velvet Gecko (_Oedura marmorata_) -- geckos 1-3 were from the Windorah area (QLD). Geckos 4-6 were a couple of examples of the more brightly coloured western race from central WA.























Ocellated Velvet Gecko (_Oedura monilis_) -- these are one of my favourite geckos with their soft, pastel colours. I think that those from the Warrumbungle area of NSW are particularly nice. Geckos 1-6 were from the Warrumbungles, gecko 7-8 from Eungella NP in central QLD and gecko 9 was an oddly marked animal from the rainforest near Airlie Beach, central QLD.

































Robust Velvet Gecko (_Oedura robusta_) -- gecko 1-3 was from the Tamworth area at the southern end of the New England Highlands of NSW. The others were from eucalyptus woodland near Brisbane, QLD.























Southern Spotted Velvet Gecko (_Oedura tryoni_) -- one of the most nicely marked _Oedura_ geckos. Some, like geckos 1-5, inhabit granite boulders whereas others live on trees or houses in coastal QLD (geckos 6-9). Gecko 3 was a juvenile.


































Broad-tailed or Southern Leaf-tailed Gecko (_Phyllurus platurus_) -- a common species on sandstone outcrops around Sydney, NSW. All of the following were from the Wollongong area.

































Beaked Gecko (_Rhynchoedura ornata_) -- a widespread gecko that is common in eastern deserts. So far, I have only seen one in WA. These geckos are termite specialists.
























Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko (_Saltuaris coronutus_) -- these amazing geckos are common on the Atherton Tablelands of FNQ. I have found a number while on night walks through the rainforest.


































Southern Leaf-tailed Gecko (_Saltuarius swaini_) -- This species is common in montane rainforests of southeastern QLD. I think that the juvenile, gecko 1, is probably the most elegant of all the leaf-tails that I have ever encountered.
























Wyberba Leaf-tailed Gecko (_Saltuaris wyberba_) -- tiny distribution in the granite belt of southern QLD. I have seen them on the road at night but they are more easily seen by walking at night around granite outcrops and scanning for the lizards.

























Northern Spiny-tailed Gecko (_Strophurus ciliaris_) -- I think that all of the following are _S. ciliaris_. Geckos 1 & 5 are from Mutawintji, NSW. Gecko 2-3 was from Windorah, QLD. Gecko 4, 6, 7 and 8 were from Exmouth, WA. Gecko 9 was from Fowler's Gap, NSW. 


































Jewelled Gecko (_Strophurus elderi_) -- lovely geckos that are widespread in the dry areas but hard to find. They are spinifex specialists that are probably common but hard to spot in the spiny clumps of grass.
























Southern Phasmid Gecko (_Strophurus jaenae_) -- this tiny gecko was found on the road near Sandfire (Great Sandy Desert), WA. It is a spinifex specialist.














_Strophurus krisalys_ -- this species was found while night-walking on red dunes near Windorah, QLD.














Smooth Spiny-tailed Gecko (_Strophurus spinigerus_) -- this gecko is abundant in the southwestern portion of WA. I saw huge numbers on the road at night north of Perth.























Western Spiny-tailed Gecko (_Strophurus strophurus_) -- another common spiny-tailed gecko in WA. It was common north and east of the range of _S. spinigerus_.























Golden-tailed Gecko (_Strophurus taenicauda_) -- this beautiful _Strophurus_ is confined to brigalow habitats in southern Queensland. I have only seen this single animal.














Eastern Spiny-tailed Gecko (_Strophurus williamsi_) -- an abundant species in the mid-western highlands of NSW north into QLD. 























Thick-tailed Gecko (_Underwoodisaurus milii_) -- widespread gecko that is common in some areas. Geckos 1-6 were from the Warrumbungle area. Geckos 7-8 were from Mutawintji, NSW, and gecko 9 was from the Cue area of WA.


































Granite belt Thick-tailed Gecko (Underwoodisaurus sphyrurus) -- This is the only individual of this species that I have seen despite multiple searches. It seems to be a difficult species to locate. Its colouration is a close match to the granite boulders where it lives. It is restricted the granite belt of southern QLD and northeastern NSW.
























Fraser's Delma (_Delma fraseri_) -- from Perth, WA.













Side-barred Delma (_Delma grayii_) -- from Perth, WA.













Patternless Delma (_Delma inornata_) -- one from the Warrumbungle area, NSW.














Sharp-snouted Delma (_Delma nasuata_) -- one from the Exmouth area, WA.












Burton's Snake Lizard (_Lialis burtonis_) -- found over most of Australia. Highly variable in pattern, even in a single area.


































Keeled Legless Lizard (_Pletholax gracilis_) -- near Perth, WA.













Common Scaly-foot (_Pygopus lepidopodus_) -- a widespread species. Photo 1 was from near Wollongong, NSW, and photo 2 was from Perth, WA. Photo 3 was a DOR striped phase animal from north of Perth.














Western Hooded Scaly-foot (_Pygopus nigreceps_) -- a beautiful scaly foolt that is common from the Shark Bay area and north. These photos are all from the Shark Bay portion of its range.
























Eastern Hooded Scaly-foot (_Pygopus schraderi_) -- seems to be much harder to find than Western Hooded Scaly-foots. This was the only representative of the species that I have encountered.


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## Stranger (May 31, 2009)

Wow!


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## method (May 31, 2009)

Damn, awesome post moloch. +1 for sticky


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## GTsteve (May 31, 2009)

That's an incredible amount of information you have collected & its very kind of you to share. I've had no interest in Geckos really until now. The Northern, Southern & Wyberba Leaf tails make me think of Dragons!

Thanks for an amazing post mate!


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## Thyla (May 31, 2009)

Amazing. Thank you very much for sharing with us and putting in the time to post it 

PS: Can't wait for part 2!


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## DDALDD (May 31, 2009)

Informative and brilliant pics mate.


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## funcouple (Jun 1, 2009)

Hey great pics and info thnx


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## Lozza (Jun 1, 2009)

Fantastic thread! Awesome pics as always David  
Thanks very much for sharing.


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## Serpentess (Jun 1, 2009)

I imagine this would come VERY handy for some people.

Great photos and great subjects. =]


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## borntobnude (Jun 1, 2009)

thanks david ,cant wait for the book . with those great photos its a winner

rodney


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## reptilefan95 (Jun 1, 2009)

i have that book


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## Niall (Jun 1, 2009)

Great pictures mate,
when is part 2 coming out


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## mebebrian (Jun 1, 2009)

Thats a great collection of pics there mate, thanx for sharing. Looking forward to the next instalment


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## Acrochordus (Jun 1, 2009)

Great photo's and information, Thanks for sharing can't wait for the 2nd one, Thanks Tim.


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## moloch05 (Jun 1, 2009)

Thanks, everyone, for their kind remarks. I am glad that the photos were enjoyed. Putting this post together brought back lots of pleasant memories ... and it is too cold now to head out and find many herps anyway.

I should have part 2 (skinks) ready in another week.


Regards,
David


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## Sock Puppet (Jun 1, 2009)

Great post Moloch, absolutely love those leaf tails, how awesome is the camouflage? Some of them must have taken some time to spot eh?


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## Fuscus (Jun 1, 2009)

wow- very good collection


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## Chrisreptile (Jun 1, 2009)

Spectacular photos 

I reckon someone should make a book


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## ryanharvey1993 (Jun 1, 2009)

awsome pics, great info, sticky should be added! thanks.


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## moloch05 (Jun 3, 2009)

Thanks again for the replies.

Tonksy,
Leaftails can be really hard to spot even when they are in the open. They are wonderfully camouflaged.


Thanks, Fuscus, Chris, Luke and Ryan.



Regards,
David


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## jacorin (Jun 3, 2009)

u must have the patience of a saint moloch,lol.....even so ,terriffic pics,well done and ty for sharing.... will now wait quietly for Pt 2


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## FAY (Jun 3, 2009)

WOW lright!


Thanks so much David.....they are just fantastic!


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## gecko-mad (Jun 4, 2009)

cant wait foe part 2!


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## GOOBA (Jun 4, 2009)

awsome pics mate.
wish i could travle insearch for the gold u found!
+2 on a sticky


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## moloch05 (Jun 7, 2009)

I included photos of _Strophurus krisalys_ and _S. ciliaris_ in the main portion of this post but I thought that I would add a little more information about these two. _S. krisalys_ was separated from _S. ciliaris_ in 2005. S. krisalys is found in central Queensland while S. ciliaris is much more widely distributed. The following is link to a paper on the net that describes the reason for the separation and also illustrates the distribution of these geckos. 

http://www.maq.org.au/organisation/e_prints/mqm_51_2/51_2_Sadlier-et-al_2.pdf


Windorah is one of the places in southwestern Queensland where the two species live in close proximitiy. I found a _S. ciliaris_ perhaps 50km southeast of Windorah along the road towards Quilpie. I also found a _S. krisalys_ a few kilometers west of Windorah.

Here are photos of the two. _S. ciliaris_ is on the right and _S. krisalys_ is on the left. The mouth colour is yellow in _S. ciliaris_ whereas it is blue in _S. krisalys_ (not visible in my photos). Another difference is the single line of turbercles on each side of the body in _S. ciliaris_ and a double line in _S. krisalys_ (visible). In my sample size of 1 _S. krisalys_, the spines on the tail were also smaller than those of _S. ciliaris_ but I don't know if this feature is typical of this species.

























Regards,
David


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## Kirby (Jun 7, 2009)

Best Fing posts ever.


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## Lonewolf (Jun 7, 2009)

wow thats alot of pic how long did that take
are they all yours??


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## moloch05 (Jun 8, 2009)

Thanks, Kirby and Lonewolf.


Lonewolf,
They are all my pics. I have headed out often in the last 3.5 years to photograph reptiles. 


Regards,
David


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## borntobnude (Jun 8, 2009)

again thanksdavid really great , no i mean it really great ! now my son has seen it he is even keener on getting a gecko . So any body reading this thread that has an entry level gecko ? (cheap and easy ) please pm me THANKS 
oops of topic sort of sorry


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## herpkeeper (Jun 8, 2009)

Absolutely stunning photography David... awesome post !!!

when did they change the ring-tail from "Louisiadensis" though ?

cheers HK.


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## Nighteyes (Jun 9, 2009)

I think I _might _have found you another example of a WA Beaked Gecko, the lil guy was spotted by one of our drillers, it was trying to run under a safety step, we relocated off the pad and I got a few photos seeing as we couldn't ID it. Can you confirm if it is a Beaked Gecko or something else? 

For the record it was in an area called Mesa Gap 40 odd km east of Newman, lots of termite mounds around here so it fits with your explanation.


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## moloch05 (Jun 9, 2009)

Thanks, Rodney, HK and Nighteyes.

HK, the name is actually an old one but I think that it returned to "acceptance" last year. Stewart (reptilesdownunder) will have more details (but he might be off to Darwin at the moment).

Yes, that is another Beaked Gecko, Nighteyes. Thanks for the pic. It sounds like it was lucky that you were there.

Regards,
David


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## Macmilliam (Mar 14, 2010)

drool so many geckos like the spiny tail liking its eyelid


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