LIZARDS OF THE WET TROPICS

Leaf-tail Gecko (Saltuarius cornutus)

DISTRIBUTION:

Northern Queensland from Mt. Spec to Cooktown.

HABITAT:

Wet sclerophyll and rainforest of coastal ranges. Shelter in hollows and crevices of buttresses and trunks, foraging on vertical surfaces.

DESCRIPTION (from Cogger, 1992; Wilson and Knowles, 1988):

A large gecko with a broad, leaf-shaped tail. The tail has an attenuate tip that is approximately half the total length of the original tail. Regenerated tails usually have a short, well-defined tip. The dorsal ground colour features shades of grey, brown and olive with lichen-like mottling, blotches and variegations. A dark-edged pale reddish brown to pale grey vertebral stripe is usually present, interrupted by a series of four or five paler, dark-edged transverse blotches. The base of the head usually bears a blackish brown W- or M-shaped mark. Original tails usually bear broad irregular pale bands. The ventral surfaces are whitish to pale olive, occasionally peppered with pale brown. The scales on the dorsal surface are small, flat and granular. Numerous rosettes of slightly enlarged flat scales enclosing a single, enlarged, pointed tubercle are scattered over the dorsal surface. There is a distinct lateral skin fold along each flank between the axilla and groin with a series of long, curved spinose scales arising from circles of scales which are much larger than the adjacent body scales. The head is large, triangular and flat. The body is also strongly depressed and the limbs are long and spindly. SVL 140mm.

BREEDING:

Seasonal? One clutch of two eggs is laid in November. Multiple clutching? (Torr, pers. obs.)

DIET:

Invertebrates.

NOTES:

Active at low temperatures.

REFERENCES:

Anthony, M. 1993. Discovery and hatching of the eggs of the northern leaf-tailed gecko Phyllurus cornutus. Chondro 1: 40-41.

Cogger, H. G. 1992. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. Reed Books, Sydney.

Couper, P. J., Covacevich, J. A. and Moritz, C. 1993. A review of the leaf-tailed geckos endemic to eastern Australia: a new genus, four new species, and other new data. Mem. Qld Mus. 34: 95-124.

Ehmann, H. 1992. Encyclopedia of Australian Animals. Angus and Robertson, Sydney.

Wilson, S. K. and Knowles, D. G. 1988. Australia's Reptiles; a photographic reference to the terrestrial reptiles of Australia. Collins, Sydney.

Prepared by: Geordie Torr, Dept. of Zoology, James Cook University, QLD 4811, Australia.

Geordie.Torr1@jcu.edu.au

Last updated: April, 1995.