by David Boyle » Sun Jun 01, 2014 10:20 pm
There didn't seem to be anything from New Zealand on here so I thought I'd post some photos from several trips over the last few years - hopefully I've done it right!
New Zealand has a great herp fauna although it's only fairly recently that many species have been recognised & a lot still aren't officially described yet. Most species have declined massively since Europeans arrived, bringing rats, mice, cats, wasps etc & can now mainly be found on offshore island reserves - it would be quite easy to go to New Zealand and not see a single native reptile or amphibian! In recent years poaching has become a big problem, especially for some of the more spectacular geckos.
- Attachments
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- New Zealands most famous reptile - a Tuatara on Stephen's Island where there's 1000's of them!
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- A northern Tuatara from Aorangi Island in the Poor Knights Islands
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- A 'Gunther's Tuatara', sometimes considered a second species of Tuatara
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- A Stephen's Island Frog, restricted to s tiny patch of forest on Stephen's Island where they're protected by a Tuatara proof fence!
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- A Maud Island Frog, found only on Maud Island in Marlborough Sounds where they're common but threatened by the recent arrival of mice on the island
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- A Marlborough Green Gecko on Stephen's Island where they're pretty common
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- An incredibly well camouflaged & beautiful Nelson Green Gecko
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- Another Nelson Green Gecko - they're not supposed to look like this!
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- A Common Gecko - can be very common on islands in the Marlborough Sounds
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- A Pacific Gecko - can be common on northern islands
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- A 'Poor Knights' Gecko - endemic to the Poor Knights Islands
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- A 'Marlborough Mini' Gecko - very common high up in the mountains behind Kaikoura
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- A 'Southern Alps' Gecko from south island
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- A Forest Gecko on Little Barrier Island - apparently this species can still be quite common in places on the mainland
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- A southern Duvaucel's Gecko on Long Island - New Zealand's largest surviving lizard
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- A northern Duvaucel's Gecko on Aorangi Island in the Poor Knights
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- Stephen's Island Striped Gecko - only found on two islands
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- Speckled Skink on Stephen's Island where they share burrows with Tuataras
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- A stripey Common Skink - one of the few species of lizard you've got a good chance of seeing in New Zealand
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- A dark Common Skink
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- Chatham Island Skink - very common on islands in the Chathams, except for the main island
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- McCann's Skink - can be very common in parts of South Island - the most amazing thing about these is they are normally chequered & Common Skinks are stripey, but in some areas McCann's Skinks are stripey & Common Skinks are chequered but it wasn't until DNA tests were done that anybody realised!
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- Cryptc Skink - fairly common right down south
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- A Brown Skink on Stephen's Island
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- Spotted Skink, a fairly common species around Cook Strait
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- "MacKenzie Skink" - a very dark Spotted Skink from the south
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- Shore Skink - can be very common on beaches on northern islands
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- A Scree Skink - a big skink restricted to mountains on South Island
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- Aorangi Skink - endemic to the Poor Knights Islands
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- Variously called Suter's Skink, Egg-laying Skink or Diving Skink - New Zealand's only egg laying skink, a nocturnal species restricted to islands in the north
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- Going for a swim in a rock pool
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- A Hardy's Skink, a tiny little skink endemic to the Poor Knights Islands
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- Marbled Skink - a beautiful nocturnal skink from the Poor Knights Islands