Reptile & Amphibian Forums

On my personal site (URL below), I have pages for each of the various reptiles I've found during my travels (if you're curious, click on Chris/Reptiles/Field Trips). On each page, I give a translation of the scientific name (Latin and Greek roots, and people for whom the animal is named). However, I'm at a loss for info regarding the following names. If you can assist, please email me.

Kingii for frilled dragon (who is the King this name honors?)
Liasis for olive python
Varanus panoptes
Eulamprus quoyii
Suta
Carlia
Lampropholis
Gehyra mutilate
Cosymbotus

Thanks!

-----
Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

Chris,

On your site you had 2 unidentifyied reptiles...the snake looks like Simoselaps roperi (It a bit hard to tell due to lack of head detail.

The skink is Carlia amax

Your Two lined Dragons One looks like Amphibolurus longirostris and A. gilberti for the Kakadu one.

Your "Varanus panoptes looks more like Varanus mertensi and I one shot of the "Varanus scalaris"..looks more like Varanus tristis orientalis.

Regards,

Scott Eipper

Thanks for the inputs...I will research further and credit you if the "story checks out."
-----
Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

I'm using Cogger's humongous book/paperweight for the bulk of my identifications. It doesn't even list the two Amphibolurus species you mentioned, nor the S. roperi. Do you have a reference I can pursue in that respect?

>>The skink is Carlia amax

Doesn't look like the picture in Cogger, but if that's the prevalent ground skink in Kakadu, I'll take your word for it.

>>Your "Varanus panoptes looks more like Varanus mertensi

I admit that the coloration is not what I would've expected from panoptes, but the habitat and location was WAY off for it to be mertensi.

and I one shot of the "Varanus scalaris"..looks more like Varanus tristis orientalis.

Well, that one I am really undecided on!

-----
Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

G'day Chris,

>>I'm using Cogger's humongous book/paperweight for the bulk of my identifications. It doesn't even list the two Amphibolurus species you mentioned, nor the S. roperi. Do you have a reference I can pursue in that respect?

Depending on what edition of Cogger you have, the dragons are probably listed as Lophognathus longirostris and Lophognathus gilberti - not Amphibolurus.

>>>>The skink is Carlia amax
>>
>>Doesn't look like the picture in Cogger, but if that's the prevalent ground skink in Kakadu, I'll take your word for it.

Can't help you with this one, I'd need a much better photo.

>>>>Your "Varanus panoptes looks more like Varanus mertensi
>>
>>I admit that the coloration is not what I would've expected from panoptes, but the habitat and location was WAY off for it to be mertensi.

It's Varanus panoptes mate!

>> and I one shot of the "Varanus scalaris"..looks more like Varanus tristis orientalis.
>>
>>Well, that one I am really undecided on!

Personally I don't really think it's possible to be certain given the quality of the photographs, although when it comes to monitors I trust John Fowlers judgement. It certainly does look a bit like V.tristis orientalis though as Scott suggests.

Cheers

David Williams
Australian Herpetology ONLINE

-----
David Williams
PNG Snake Venom Research Project
PO Box 168
Port Moresby, NCD, PNG.

Send Email

>>Depending on what edition of Cogger you have, the dragons are probably listed as Lophognathus longirostris and Lophognathus gilberti - not Amphibolurus.

After reading the descriptions, I think you and Scott have nailed it. The pics in the book (6th edition) did not resemble the individuals I saw, but the descriptions match up.

>>>>Doesn't look like the picture in Cogger, but if that's the prevalent ground skink in Kakadu, I'll take your word for it.
>>Can't help you with this one, I'd need a much better photo.

This was the problem I foresaw before I took my trip, with so many species IDs dependent upon close examination of scalation etc., but I wasn't allowed to touch the Queen's property.

Thanks for your help!
-----
Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

G'day Chris,

>>I'm using Cogger's humongous book/paperweight for the bulk of my identifications. It doesn't even list the two Amphibolurus species you mentioned, nor the S. roperi. Do you have a reference I can pursue in that respect?

Depending on what edition of Cogger you have, the dragons are probably listed as Lophognathus longirostris and Lophognathus gilberti - not Amphibolurus.

>>>>The skink is Carlia amax
>>
>>Doesn't look like the picture in Cogger, but if that's the prevalent ground skink in Kakadu, I'll take your word for it.

Can't help you with this one, I'd need a much better photo.

>>>>Your "Varanus panoptes looks more like Varanus mertensi
>>
>>I admit that the coloration is not what I would've expected from panoptes, but the habitat and location was WAY off for it to be mertensi.

It's Varanus panoptes mate!

>> and I one shot of the "Varanus scalaris"..looks more like Varanus tristis orientalis.
>>
>>Well, that one I am really undecided on!

Personally I don't really think it's possible to be certain given the quality of the photographs, although when it comes to monitors I trust John Fowlers judgement. It certainly does look a bit like V.tristis orientalis though as Scott suggests.

Cheers

David Williams
Australian Herpetology ONLINE

-----
David Williams
PNG Snake Venom Research Project
PO Box 168
Port Moresby, NCD, PNG.

Send Email

Chris,

The reference I am using is Australia's Reptiles
By Steve Wilson and Gerry Swan 2003.

Very good book, Up to date and heaps of photos.

The Devils Marbles is a bit out of range for both those species as memory serves me.

I was up there recently (Devils Marbles) and Found V. tristis, V. acanthurus and V. gouldii at Wauchope and Wycliff Wells.

Send me a blown up version of the monitor pics in question. To my email address Scott_Eipper@hotmail.com

Incidently Simoselaps roperi was recently upgraded to full specific status from Simoselaps semifasciatus.

Ohh and Suta means "Stitched" according to " Harry Ehmann's
Encyclopedia of Australian Animals-reptiles."

Regards,

Scott Eipper

>>The reference I am using is Australia's Reptiles
>>By Steve Wilson and Gerry Swan 2003.

So far I have only looked at this from the point of view of the turtles. I found it very out of date and I was not particularly impressed with it. To date anyway.

Cheers, Scott
Carettochelys.com

-----
Scott Thomson

If you believe you can or you can't you are always right.

Scott,

I am not up to date on the turtles. How many more sp are there since that was produced?

It was good generally in the field....bit easier to carry around rather than a Cogger that is now 4 years out of date..and lighter.

Annoying though also have to carry around seperate book for the frogs.

Mind you I prefer Cogger for all the Ctenotus and Lerista.

Such is life,

Scott Eipper

There are around 26 species of turtle in Australia. But the best way to give people a heads up on the turtles is to direct anyone interested to my website where we maintain not only the checklist but the validation of it. Link below.

I agree with your comments generally, I always found Cogger a must, with some additional frog guides. The turtles I always did myself anyway.

Cheers, Scott
Carettochelys.com

-----
Scott Thomson

If you believe you can or you can't you are always right.

>>Very good book, Up to date and heaps of photos.

Yeah, the Cogger book I have is the 6th edition. The pics of the dragons in the book didn't correspond well to the pics I took, but after reading the descriptions of A. (L.) longirostris and gilberti I think I have a match; thanks!

>>Send me a blown up version of the monitor pics in question. To my email address Scott_Eipper@hotmail.com

That will take some doing--they were stills from my video camera, and I'll have to retake the stills since I didn't save the original, unresized captures. I'm in the process of converting all my old video to DVD which eventually will make tasks like this go a little smoother!

>> Incidently Simoselaps roperi was recently upgraded to full specific status from Simoselaps semifasciatus.

Doesn't look like it ranges down to the Barkly Highway according to Cogger; would you still say it was roperi (semifasciatus)?

>>Ohh and Suta means "Stitched" according to " Harry Ehmann's

Does it say what my other scientific names requested mean?
-----
Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

Hi Chris and others,

I concur on the Carlia amax. I haven't looked at most of the others which seem to be sorted out already, but I've worked on Simoselaps in museum collections over many years: your banded snake on the Barkly Highway was S. roperi.

The S. semifasciatus group includes a few very distinct species: australis (east and south-east), semifasciatus (southwestern and central), approximans (north-west), as covered by the field guides. All the other, northern members of the group are more similar to each other in scalation and osteology, and distinct from those already listed, and I call this the S. roperi species-complex. It's a taxonomic mess, with low numbers of specimens (especially females) available from most areas.

What I think at the moment is: S. roperi (strict sense) is only recorded from the NT (in museum collections, which are spotty!)and has a relatively low number of broad dark bands (in the 30s and 40s, as in your photo). Similar forms occur in far north Queensland (available names are campbelli and woodjonesi). There are two separate unbanded species (incinctus and morrisi); and then a few specimens from various places in WA, NT and western Qld that have more numerous and fainter bands (60s to 80s) just like semifasciatus. Clearly this is the ancestral pattern, and the broad-banded and bandless populations are derived from it, but whether there are additional 'cryptic' species in the complex is not so clear.

These are harmless little things that eat nothing but lizard eggs and do not bite in defense. They have palatal teeth like a pair of saws, but the marginal teeth are tiny and the short fangs point backwards into the mouth (Scanlon and Shine 1988, J. Zool. Lond. 216: 519-528).

How precisely could you describe the locality and/or habitat for this specimen? I'm living just down the road from there, and may have to go and look for more like it! You can email me if there's more data (johnscanlon@outbackatisa.com.au). Cheers
-----
John D. Scanlon
Riversleigh Fossil Centre
Outback at Isa
Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia

off topic but heres my tegu

Varanus panoptes is the Argus monitor. In Greek legend, Argus Panoptes (Argus the All-seeing) was a watchman with a hundred eyes charged with keeping watch over the maiden Io so Zeus wouldn't get his mitts on her.

From Greek lampros (shining) and pholis (scale)