Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 4347 No. 2: 13 Nov. 2017
Type: Article
Published: 2017-11-13
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4347.2.7
Page range: 316–330
Abstract views: 246
PDF downloaded: 7

A new species of gecko (Squamata: Diplodactylidae: Strophurus) from central Queensland, Australia

CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, ATSIP PMB PO, Aitkenvale, Queensland 4814, Australia.
Reptilia Brigalow Belt Triodia Golden-eyed Gecko

Abstract

A new species of diplodactylid gecko in the genus Strophurus Fitzinger, from central Queensland, Australia, is described herein as Strophurus trux sp. nov. It is similar to the recently described Strophurus congoo Vanderduys from north Queensland and apparently shares a habitat preference for Triodia hummock open woodlands. It is notably different from the latter in possessing a vivid yellow to golden eye. It is only known from one small area of the Brigalow Belt Bioregion, although it is expected to occur more widely than the one area in which it has been found. It is likely that it is endemic to the Brigalow Belt Bioregion.

 

References

  1. ALA (2016) Atlas of Living Australia. Available from: http://biocache.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?&q=lsid%3Aurn%3Alsid%3Abiodiversity.org.au%3Aafd.taxon%3A76ed1123-1039-430a-97e4-0ada9f999514 (accessed 31 October 2016)

    Bauer, A.M. & Henle, K. (1994) Familia Gekkonidae (Reptilia, Sauria). Part 1 Australia and Oceania. Das Tierreich, 109. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin & New York, 309 pp.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9783110885958

    Bauer, A.M., Jackman, T., Sadlier, R.A. & Whitaker, A.H. (2009) Review and phylogeny of the New Caledonian diplodactylid gekkotan genus Eurydactylodes Wermuth, 1965, with the description of a new species. In: Grandcolas, P. (Ed.), Zoologia Neocaledonica. Vol. 7. Biodiversity studies in New Caledonia. Mémoires du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, pp. 13–36.

    Burrows, N., Ward, B. & Robinson, A. (1991) Fire behaviour in spinifex fuels on the Gibson Desert Nature Reserve, Western Australia. Journal of Arid Environments, 20, 189–204.

    Cogger, H.G. (2014) Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. 7th Edition. Reed New Holland, Sydney, 1033 pp.

    Couper, P.J., Melville, J., Emmott, A. & Chapple, S.N.J. (2012) A new species of Diporiphora from the Goneaway Tablelands of Western Queensland. Zootaxa, 3556, 39–54.

    Doughty, P., Maryan, B., Donnellan, S.C. & Hutchinson, M.N. (2007) A new species of taipan (Elapidae: Oxyuranus) from central Australia. Zootaxa, 1422 (1), 45–58.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1422.1.3

    Doughty, P., Palmer, R., Sistrom, M.J., Bauer, A.M. & Donnellan, S. (2012) Two new species of Gehyra (Squamata: Gekkonidae) geckos from the north-west Kimberley region of Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, 27, 117–134.
    https://doi.org/10.18195/issn.0312-3162.27(2).2012.117-134

    Edwards, L.E. & Melville, J. (2011) Extensive Phylogeographic and Morphological Diversity in Diporiphora nobbi (Agamidae) Leads to a Taxonomic Review and a New Species Description. Journal of Herpetology, 45 (4), 530–546.
    https://doi.org/10.1670/10-115.1

    Gibson, R. (2002) Seven Versions of an Australian Badland. University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, Queensland, 198 pp.

    Glare, P.G.W. (1982) Oxford Latin Dictionary. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2126 pp.

    Greer, A. (1989) The Biology and Evolution of Australian Lizards. Surrey Beatty and Sons, Sydney, 264 pp.

    Han, D., Zhou, K. & Bauer, A.M. (2004) Phylogenetic relationships among gekkotan lizards inferred from C-mos nuclear DNA sequences and a new classification of the Gekkota. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 83 (3), 353–368.
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2004.00393.x

    Hoskin, C.J. (2013a) A new skink (Scincidae: Saproscincus) from rocky rainforest habitat on Cape Melville, north-east Australia. Zootaxa, 3722 (3), 385–395.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3722.3.7

    Hoskin, C.J. (2013b) A spectacular new leaf-tailed gecko (Carphodactylidae: Saltuarius) from the Melville Range, north-east Australia. Zootaxa, 3717 (4), 543–558.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3717.4.6

    Hoskin, C.J. & Higgie, M. (2008) A new species of velvet gecko (Diplodactylidae: Oedura) from north-east Queensland, Australia. Zootaxa, 1788, 21–36.

    IUCN (2016) The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2001 Categories & Criteria. Version 3.1. Available from: www.iucnredlist.org/static/categories_criteria_3_1 (accessed 19 December 2016)

    Lewis, C.T. & Short, C. (1879) A Latin Dictionary. Oxford University Press, London, 2019 pp.

    Melville, J., Schulte, J.A. & Larson, A. (2004) A molecular study of phylogenetic relationships and evolution of antipredator strategies in Australian Diplodactylus geckos, subgenus Strophurus. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 82 (1), 123–138.
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2004.00324.x

    NAFI (2016) Northern Australia and Rangelands Fire Information. Available from: http://138.80.128.151/firescars/ (accessed 4 January 2017)

    Nielsen, S.V., Oliver, P.M., Laver, R.J., Bauer, A.M. & Noonan, B.P. (2016) Stripes, jewels and spines: further investigations into the evolution of defensive strategies in a chemically defended gecko radiation (Strophurus, Diplodactylidae). Zoologica Scripta, 45 (5), 481–493.
    https://doi.org/10.1111/zsc.12181

    Nimmo, D.G., Kelly, L.T., Spence-Bailey, L.M., Watson, S.J., Haslem, A., White, J.G., Clarke, M.K. & Bennett, A.F. (2012) Predicting the century-long post-fire responses of reptiles. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 21 (11), 1062–1073.
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2011.00747.x

    Oliver, P.M. & Parkin, T. (2014) A new phasmid gecko (Squamata: Diplodactylidae: Strophurus) from the Arnhem Plateau: more new diversity in rare vertebrates from northern Australia. Zootaxa, 3878 (1), 037–048.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3878.1.3

    Pianka, E. (1996) Long-Term Changes in Lizard Assemblages in the Great Victoria Desert: Dynamic Habitat Mosaics in Response to Wildfires. In: Cody, M.L. & Smallwood, J.A. (Eds.), Long-Term Studies of Vertebrate Communities. Academic Press, San Diego, pp.191–215.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012178075-3/50009-X

    Pyne, S.J. (1998) Burning Bush: A Fire History of Australia. University of Washington Press, Seattle, 520 pp.

    Queensland Government. (2014) Regional Ecosystem descriptions. Available from: https://environment.ehp.qld.gov.au/regional-ecosystems/details/?re=11.11.7 (accessed 1 November 2016)

    Storr, G.M. (1988) The subspecies of Diplodactylus spinigerus (Lacertilia: Gekkonidae). Records of the Western Australian Museum, 14 (2), 177–182.

    Storr, G.M. & Ford, J.R. (1967) Rediscovery and taxonomic status of the Western Australian gecko Diplodactylus michaelseni. The Western Australian naturalist, 10, 160–162.

    Swan, G. & Wilson, S. (2015) Where do they all come from?: Animal movement immediately following a hummock grassland fire. Australian Zoologist, 37, 485–491.
    https://doi.org/10.7882/AZ.2015.012

    Vanderduys, E. (2016) A new species of gecko (Squamata: Diplodactylidae: Strophurus) from north Queensland, Australia. Zootaxa, 4117 (3), 341–358.
    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4117.3.3

    Wilson, S. (2015) A Field Guide to Reptiles of Queensland. New Holland, Sydney, 256 pp.

    Wilson, S. & Swan, G. (2013) A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia. 4th Edition. Reed New Holland, Sydney, 592 pp.