Up on the Arnhemland Plateau

[tropicbreeze]

Doing a bit of a stroll around the place last week I managed a few herp photos that might be of interest here. I'm not the best on ID but others will probably know.

The only snake I managed to get, almost as thin as a boot lace, Furina ornata, Orange-naped Snake.


An interesting turtle that was making its way up a rocky cascade, Elseya dentata, Northern Snapping Turtle.


Most lizards were off like rockets but a couple of these gave me half a chance, Ctenophorus caudicinctus, Ring-tailed Dragon


Another dragon but still haven't worked it out. Perhaps a bad photo of Diporiphora bilineata, Two-lined Dragon.


Another too difficult for me to work out, so I'll just call it a Skink. Unfortunately the close up is a poor photo.


The frogs were more cooperative, although not helpful enough to have labels so that I could identify them all. Looks like Litoria nasuta, Rocket Frog


With that little bit of colour showing on the hind leg I'm wondering whether this might be Litoria tornieri.


I'm thinking Litoria meiriana on these, they're small enough.


These were slightly larger than the last ones, so not sure whether they're the same species. Initially I thought might be L. copelandi, but they're probably too small.


Another that has me stumped.


And it wouldn't be right to leave out the Ubiquitous One.


Saw a Varanus glebopalma but it kept its distance and the only photo was a vague silhouette. But I've got good photos previously of one that was outright friendly and did some great poses.

There were a few geckos but they were the fastest moving ones I've ever seen. A lot of creeks had fresh tracks of Varanus mertensi and Freshwater Crocodiles, though never saw the animals themselves.

 

[DanTheMan]

Put the glebopalma shots up! Would love to see them

 

[GeckPhotographer]

I think that is coplandi, they are definitely meriana. Pretty sure the skink is a Carlia sp. The bilineata is not a bilineata.

Oh and yeah great photos.

 

[Smithers]

Awesome images, thanks for sharing

 

[tropicbreeze]

Thanks for the comments. We were pushing it a bit, had about 75 kms of fairly rugged terrain to cover saddled up with 20+ kg backpacks. So not a lot of time to devote to getting photos and sometimes too tired to even try.

The V. glebopalma photo I deleted, it just looked like a blurred Varanus head and part body. The older photos I have were taken some years back and in an outlier of the Arnhemland Plateau. So I'll dig them out and put them up on a separate thread to keep that distinction.

Had the photo been more blurred the 'bilineata' might have looked a bit more like a bilineata. But stuffed if I know what it is. I've been through Coggers a few times and still no closer to an ID.

The skink didn't really behave like a Carlia so I dismissed that as a possibility. There were Carlias out there but the only photos I managed didn't come out well.

I did wonder whether the second last group might have been of a young Rocket Frog. It did have that appearance and was smaller.

It'd be good to do that trip again with more time to look around. Although, that'd probably take at least 3 weeks. That's a lot of food to carry, and camera battery power.

 

[waruikazi]

That skink is definately Carlia, i would have called it amax. Defo a Carlia but.

Where abouts did you get up mate?

 

[Treknotechelaps]

Good finds!
The dragon you called 'bilineata' is a Amphibolurus/Lophognathus, most likely gilberti going by the exceptionally long tail and prominent pale dorsolateral stripe.
The second last frog above the Cane Toad could be a Masked Rock Frog Litoria personata? Not 100% sure on that one.

 

[Bluetongue1]

Tropicbreeze,

Some nice pics there. Thanks.

I would concur with all the ID’s given. The Carlia skink is amax (you can just make out some keels in the photo) and the second dragon very likely Amphibolurus (Lophognathus) gilberti, although they are very difficult to distinguish from A. temporalis without viewing the scales on the back.

I would also agree that the last frog is in all probability Litoria personata. It is difficult to ID frogs without a view of the toes and fingers and webbing along with colour of armpit, groin, back of thigh and stomach. Determination of actual length can also be very helpful.

None-the-less thanks for sharing from that part of the world. Most enjoyable and appreciated.

Blue

 

[tropicbreeze]

Thanks for the IDs. I should have recognised the "Diporiphora bilineata" as Amphibolurus/Lophognathus gilberti. When I lived in central Arnhem Land they over ran my place. There'd be a few sleeping hanging off my mosquito net of a night. They'd perch on chairs and not move when you went to sit down. They were real characters. There were a few other dragons I got photos from around there, the Gilberts were the only ones to actually "move in" with me.

 

[Treknotechelaps]

A lizard you can have as a 'pet' without keeping them in an enclosure! Awesome. Would be happy to have them round my place.
When stopping through Katherine i went and got some money out the bank there and there on the steps leading up to the atm was a Gilbert's Dragon basking, and it hardly moved, i had to walk round it to get some money out.
Probably get that often up north but down in the south youd maybe see a garden skink, if that doing the same, and they'd run away.

 

[tropicbreeze]

I lived in a remote part of central Arnhem Land and built my house there from bush material and scraps. The design was sort of 'open plan'.

It was a great situation. Initially I had Carlia skinks around which seemed to find that humans were great, they attracted flies and all sorts of yummy things. I'd swat flies and throw them to them. One took over and used to sit on my foot waiting for the next morsel. When other Carlias came around it would lift both front feet and beat them against the ground. Appeared to be a warning, "get away, this is my human, I found it and tamed it!" The Aboriginal (local) name for them was Bundjing.

But then the Gilberts started turning up. I saw one in the process of swallowing a Carlia. They seemed to be mainly females and ended up taking over the place. An occasional male would turn up and the females would move in closer to me, the males always kept very distant. The Aboriginal name for them was Kerngbol (females) and Madjamordoh (males).

Another character was a V. panoptes that turned up and started washing itself just in front of me where I was hosing something. It walked up as though it was a daily routine, got under the stream of water, then rubbed itself against some grass, back to the water, and a bit more rubbing. It hung around for a while (weeks) but the Gilberts disappeared. The Aboriginal name for that one was Kalawan.

There was also a Green Tree Snake that turned up and used to hunt for frogs amongst the leaf litter around my camp. Used to shuffle through the leaves around my feet. One time sitting in the shade it came up between my legs, raised its head above knee level. Looked me in the eye while its neck and upper body swayed from side to side. The head was motionless. Then it went back down to rumaging amongst the leaves. Aboriginal name Ramberambe.

Another goanna there was a small V. scalaris that kept mainly to the trees and my table. I had a laptop computer run off a solar panel. The scalaris would wander around the table around the computer, sniff out my hands, Even licked my fingers. Aboriginal name Bandarrdarr.

It's amazing the things that happen out in Arnhem Land. More particularly in the remote parts, the main communities are more like towns with dogs, cats and people everywhere. But when you're out bush if you're non-threatening the wildlife accepts you as part of the natural surrounds.

But yes, Gilberts seem to be good survivors in towns and quickly get used to the behaviour of people. Although cats will clean them out. Funnily enough, at my home now the Gilberts are still very timid. I'm probably not around long enough for them to get used to me. A place like Katherine has stacks of people around all day.

 

[Wally]

Great last post and a fantastic thread tropicbreeze.

 

[Grogshla]

great work buddy.
much appreciated!

 

[tropicbreeze]

Thanks. The experiences are out there to be had, if you go to the right places.

 

[Treknotechelaps]

I should have said that I saw the Gilberts basking out the front of the bank in Katherine about 15 years ago :shock:. Katherine has surely become a much bigger town since then with alot more people.
Great little stories of your herp interactions/experiences, esp. the one with the Carlia skink.

 

[tropicbreeze]

The town itself hasn't really changed that much, apart from a lot more tourists/grey nomads during the dry season. Most of Katherine's growth has been around Katherine East.

 

[saltuarius]

Turtle ID

Hey Mate nice shots. That turtle is not Elseya dentata. It is a sawshell- Wollumbinia (or Myuchelys depending on who you subscribe to) latisternum. No doubt different from the other populations in Aus being in the NT. There is an isolated population out there on the AL Plateau. Also Elseya do not climb around up or around waterfalls which is something that W. latisternum is known for...occurring on the tops of mountains etc. Nice shots!!

Cheers

 

[S&M Morelia]

Finally a half decent thread on here.

Thanks for sharing tropicbreeze.

 

[tropicbreeze]

S&M Morelia, only "half decent"? So are you suggesting it's a bit threadbare? :lol:

Saltuarius, thanks for that clarification. I made the ID from my old version of Coggers. But I was a bit curious how it made its way to where we found it. Between there and the lowlands there was some very rugged country, cascades and waterfalls. It had just come across a long stretch of rock shelf and got up onto a ledge with water cascading down. The shell was covered in a lot of algae, so it hadn't spent any time dry for a while. I noticed that with the webbed feet it also had long claws.

 

[S&M Morelia]

Was just saying that most of the threads on here are in the "chit-Chat" section....
So it was refreshing to see something different

Cheers.
Shaun.