Reader Tony Eales, from Queensland, sent a passel of reptile photos; his notes are indented.
A set of Squamates.
First a particularly pretty little skink called the Shaded-litter Rainbow-skink, Carlia munda:
A close up of the common striped wall skink, Cryptoblepharus virgatus:
One of the small common dragons (Agamids) with the charming name of Tommy Roundhead, Diporiphera australis:
Another Agamid the Borneo Angle-Headed Agamid or Borneo Forest Dragon, Gonocephalus borneensis:
An extreme close-up of the eye of an Asian House Gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus. These have become very invasive in my home city during my lifetime. I recall as a kid the excitement at seeing any gecko and now every house has them crawling around outdoor lights and making their chuk-chuk-chuk calls.
An Eastern Water Dragon, Itelagama lesuerii lesuerii. These are very common close to creeks in the city, right in to parks in the CBD. Large males can be brightly coloured and pretty large for a town lizard.
My favourite photo of an Eastern Brown Snake, Pseudonaja textilis. I was walking through some grass in a dry creek bed and saw the snake not three feet away at the same time it saw me. It raised its head, not in a threatening way, more of an “Oh! What are you?” way and I froze too. We both sized each other up and I slowly got out my camera, took the snap, put my camera away and backed away slowly and it headed off in another direction. One of my favourite encounters just respectful with enough adrenalin to make it memorable.
A Blue-Tongue Lizard, Tilqua scincoides, in an environment I would never have imagined seeing one. It was out in the middle of tidal flats at low time swimming through the shallow pools. He was a good 50cm long, a sizable specimen. These lizards are relatively common in urban areas, often seen stealing dog or cat food from outside bowls.
Gibber Earless Dragon, Tympanocryptis intima. They aren’t a large dragon, around 5cm snout to vent but this one was the smallest dragon I’d ever seen, maybe 1.5cm snout to vent.
I finally got a photograph of a Sand Goanna, Varanus gouldii, last year. The larger Lace Monitor is far more common in my area. The Sand Goanna is the one which my indigenous informants tell me is the one to eat because they’re clean, they say Lace Monitors are dirty and will crawl up the arse of a dead pig to eat its innards.
[ Smiles ] Great pictures of wildlife!
+ 1
“… and will crawl up the arse of a dead pig to eat its innards.”
Thus fueling the fantasies of alien cattle mutilation believers. Well, I suppose beliefs have been founded on less…
Uhhh, Tony? I think you badly misread that Eastern Brown Snake. That is clearly a “Come on, just one step closer, I double-dog-dare ya,” look that it’s giving you.
You’ve got a lot of cool lizards in your area. Large monitors, .5 meter Blue Tongued lizards. The Eastern Water Dragon and the Borneo Forest Dragon are very nice too. My kids would go nuts there.
Very nice photos! Thanks!
Exquisite photos – I especially love the dragons. Our diversity of backyard lizards here in South Texas pales in comparison (and I’m fortunate to have Texas spiny lizards that breed in my backyard – at least one nest in the shelter of a rosemary plant in the rock garden).
What a charming assortment of reptiles!
Wow, that was some passel. I imagine the snakes are indigenous, but from the lizard names it seems many aren’t. The water dragon is stunning.
The Asian House Geckos are feral and the Borneo Anglehead was from a trip I took to Borneo. Otherwise all natives
You say that like it’s a bad thing.
An enjoyable set of Herps! I wonder if the Asian house gecko became established through the pet trade.
No it appears to have come in on timber imports. They first appeared around dockland suburbs and industrial areas and spread from there.
It’s called a goanna because it’s the best reptile to goanna pizza.
LOL I’m gonna use that one 🙂
Interesting bunch of pics. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Jerry. Let me share some “artsy” wildlife photos. The first is a cormoran. The second and third are pictures of “aplomado” falcons. The three were taken (by me) in the Centla Glades of Tabasco, México. Greetings from Mexico City,
José Ramón.
On Thu, May 25, 2017 at 7:31 AM, Why Evolution Is True wrote:
> whyevolutionistrue posted: “Reader Tony Eales, from Queensland, sent a > passel of reptile photos; his notes are indented. A set of Squamates. First > a particularly pretty little skink called the Shaded-litter > Rainbow-skink, Carlia munda: A close up of the common striped wall sk” >
You’ll have to send them to me at my email address (click “research interests” at upper right)
Done.
Thank you.
Best regards.
Very nice squamates.