Australia 2016 Part 1: Sydney and the Snowy Mountains
Australia 2016 Part 2: (Tasmanian) Devils Walk Among Us
Australia 2016 Part 3: The Victorian Victories
*I should note, too, that I am probably 90% sure on my IDs, but if you know I'm incorrect, please let me know. I find that the small skinks and brown frogs are often harder to ID than Desmognathus salamanders.
At this point in my journey across the Australian continent, I was left with a bit of a problem. For those not familiar with doing research in Australia, the bureaucracy of it is a pain. Without going into great detail on something that caused me great frustration and stress, I found myself without permits for other states in which I needed to sample. I was in the process of getting them to be sure, but they were still likely several weeks off. So how could I be productive and not just sit around Sydney waiting for the paperwork to go through?
I had not applied for permits for Queensland because the permits are quite onerous, take a long time to get (I'm told), and are restrictive on the amount of sampling they typically allow. This means I wouldn't have Pseudophryne covacevichae, P. raveni, or P. major represented in my sampling. But I could be a tourist and go herping in southeast Queensland and get photos of all that I find including the standardized photos (see previous threads) of the Pseudophryne that I do find. In that way, I'm still collecting data as well as being able to add to my herp list. So off I went.
And that would start perhaps the best unintentional string of luck with snakes that I have had in recent memory. I'm not a hardcore snake guy like some herpers, but I definitely appreciate them when they pop up. They're much harder for me to target than other herps, so I don't generally look for them and just get pleasantly surprised when I find them. Part of the 11 hour drive north took me through some back country roads, and I fortunately found myself on a quiet one when I rolled up on this beauty of a Carpet Python. They're dirt common, supposedly, but this is the first I've seen, and it's a species my labmate has kept as pets (I always get a kick out of seeing common pets in the U.S. in their natural habitat). So it got what star treatment I could give it. It is, perhaps unsurprisingly difficult to hold an angry python and try to put your camera together to get photos, but fortunately I managed with only getting pooped on (the smell of success).
Carpet Python by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrAnd as an added bit of humor and intrigue, my FitBit managed to capture the moment as well.
Python heart rate by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrAnd from that night on almost for the whole two weeks that I would be driving around QLD, I would find at least one snake a day, often of a new species for me.
For the first couple days, I traveled around Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast looking for herps, mainly picking areas based on historical records for Pseudophryne, though. Unfortunately, it being an exceptionally dry austral summer (Thanks
Red-Bellied Black Snake by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Rose's Shadeskink by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Fletcher's Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Striped Marsh Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Great Barred Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Pobblebonk by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Pobblebonk by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrAnd when I went into the rainforests of Lamington National Park where it was raining/drizzling, I did find some frogs, just not the species I was targeting (but I'll take an endangered Fleay's Barred Frog as consolation).
Fleay's Barred Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrI also had to appreciate some of the beautiful scenery in Lamington.
Cascade at Lamington by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Elabana Falls by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Sunset at Lamington by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrThere were also some crazy invertebrates like this large blue crayfish that like to walk around on rainy night and this female Giant King Cricket that was not much smaller than the crayfish.
Lamington Crayfish by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Giant King Cricket by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrAnd because I was in the area, I had to stop again at the Australia Zoo.
Flirting with Death by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Flirting with Death by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrWhile waiting for the zoo to open, I spent the morning (and evening) around the Glass House Mountains where I got to see my first goanna! A legitimately large Australian lizard, finally! And in the evening, I managed a few more snakes.
Glass House Mountains by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Lace Monitor by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Yellow-Faced Whipsnake by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Red-Bellied Black Snake by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Brown Tree Snake by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrI spent the following night and day in the Brisbane area looking for herps before heading south. I did manage to find a few.
Wilcox's Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Carpet Python by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Golden-Crowned Snake by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Elegant Snake-Eyed Skink by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Unknown Skink by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Green Tree Snake by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrAt this point, I would like to make a shout out to Jasmine (Jazz) and Jannico for helping me with sites, but they also took me out to the Springbrook area to help me look for frogs and show me some of the good herping sites in the area. I spend the day in the area visiting the natural wonders there, and then we went herping at night. We weren't successful with Pseudophryne (despite it drizzling all day, it wasn't enough to really soak the soil), but we did get a number of other species including a personal favorite in the Southern Leaf-Tailed Gecko as well as more Fleay's Barred Frogs.
Robust Rainbow-Skink by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Unknown Skink by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Dark Bar-Sided Skink by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Natural Bridge by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrThis is a male Giant King Cricket. About 3 inches long, the mandibles are probably about half an inch long. Utterly terrifying. I've never so gingerly handled an insect.
Giant King Cricket by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Wilcox's Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Orange-Eyed Tree Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Rose's Shadeskink by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Southern Leaf-Tailed Gecko by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Southern Angle-Headed Dragon by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Fleay's Barred Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Fleay's Barred Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrWe even found a little Antechinus, which is a shrew-like marsupial whose claim to fame is that they will have sex until they literally fall apart and die. What a way to go out.
Unknown Antechinus by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrAt that point, I was faced with a decision to shoot way north to Cairns (1500km/900mi) to try to find P. covacevichae or to stay south and focus around southeastern Queensland. After talking with some herpers, they told me that I'd likely be wasting my time heading north as that species is an austral summer breeder and would not likely be calling this time of year. I decided, instead to head to Kroombit Tops which I was told was a good P. raveni site (plus being home to the endemic critically endangered Kroombit Tree Frog). It was still a bit of a drive, so I stopped for the night in Cooloola to try to find some wallum frogs. Just before the skies opened up, I managed to find an endangered Cooloola Tree Frog.
Cooloola Tree Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrBy the time I got back to my car (2km hike), the rains let up and I decided to start my way back to my campsite. Not two minutes in the car when I heard the distinctive "reekt" croak of a Pseudophryne. And sure enough, with a little digging, I finally got my first P. raveni!
Copper-backed Brood Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Copper-backed Brood Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrAnd then onto Kroombit Tops. The maps are not entirely clear on how to get to the park, but after much searching and looking at two different atlases and Google maps, I finally figured out where I wanted to be. Unfortunately, what was not clear was that it was 70km of dirt road to get there. Once I got there, I waited for night fall and started looking for frogs. While I did hear some P. raveni, it was only a couple way off in the distance. Finding Kroombit Tree Frogs went much better, though it did take me a little bit of time. Oddly, I found probably more than 10, but all but one were in one little tree that was the only one of its kind around. The night went well for other herps including another tree frog species and a couple of TDC gecko species. Perhaps the most frustrating thing was driving back and hearing a couple of P. major calling, but when I got close, they stopped and would not start up again even with playback.
Kroombit Tops by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Kroombit Tree Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Kroombit Tree Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Wilcox's Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Emerald-Speckled Tree Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Wood Gecko by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Thick-Tailed Gecko by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Unknown Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrI went back to Cooloola the next day to try to get some more raveni and maybe some more wallum frogs. While I did get a few more Cooloola Tree Frogs and one more P. raveni, I think my favorite find of the night was a quite cooperative Carpet Python which was crossing the road right next to my car when I got back from looking for wallum frogs. I also found a Golden-Crowned Snake which did its absolute best to convince me that it was the most venomous snake in the world.
Unknown Skink by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Cooloola Tree Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Golden Crowned Snake by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Golden Crowned Snake by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Carpet Python by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Carpet Python by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Copper-backed Brood Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Small-Eyed Snake by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrAt this point, I needed to find P. major and after consulting historical records, I decided to try around Toowoomba. It wasn't long before I heard the first chorus in a small, dried creek bed. I ended up hearing a number more choruses, but all on fenced/private property. But with a bit of searching, I did get a couple of "Large" Toadlets, which in reality, are the same size as all the other Pseudophryne.
Large Toadlet by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Large Toadlet by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrI also found some more frogs.
Ornate Burrowing Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Ornate Burrowing Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Ornate Burrowing Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Broad-Palmed Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrI spent the following morning around Crows Nest National Park and found a few more herps before I had to head south.
Eastern Two-Lined Dragon by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Eastern Two-Lined Dragon by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Northern Bar-Sided Skink by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Dark Bar-Sided Skink by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Northern Bar-Sided Skink by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrI took the next couple days heading back to Sydney looking for Pseudophryne spots along the way. I stopped by Springbrook once more to try to find some more leaf tails and I found one little baby.
Southern Leaf-Tailed Gecko by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrIn heading back into NSW, I did find some interestingly colored P. coriacea, I think. These are the only Pseudophryne that I've come across, other than the Corroboree, with yellow, rather than white, bellies.
Red-Backed Toadlet by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Red-Backed Toadlet by J.P. Lawrence, on Flickr
Red-Backed Toadlet by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrAnd ubiquitous Dwarf Tree Frogs
Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog by J.P. Lawrence, on FlickrMy trip to Queensland wasn't as nearly as successful as I would have liked it to be I terms of finding Pseudophryne, but my Australian herp list grew considerably while there! Stay tuned for the next segment, the Red Centre where I hope to find the gem of Australian herpetology: Moloch horridus.
Herp species so far for this trip, asterisks denote lifers, red are new since the last update: 58
Frogs
Crinia signifera (no photo)
Litoria caerulea*
Litoria verreauxii
Limnodynastes dumerilii*
Pseudophryne dendyi*
Pseudophryne semimarmorata*
Geocrinia victoriana*
Mixophyes fasciolatus*
Litoria peronii*
Lechriodus fletcheri*
Litoria wilcoxi*
Mixophyes fleayi*
Litoria chloris*
Litoria cooloolensis*
Pseudophryne raveni*
Pseudophryne major*
Litoria kroombitensis*
Limnodynastes peronii
Platyplectrum ornatum*
Litoria latopalmata*
Litoria fallax
Turtles
Emydura macquarii*
Lizards
Cryptoblepharus pulcher
Ctenotus taeniolatus*
Egernia cunninghami*
Eulamprus kosciuskoi*
Eulamprus tympanum*
Eulamprus quoyii
Pseudemoia entrecasteauxii*
Pseudemoia pagenstecheri*
Rankinia diemensis*
Niveoscincus metallicus*
Niveoscincus orocryptus*
Egernia whitii*
Lampropholis delicata
Eulamprus heatwolei*
Amphibolurus muricatus*
Varanus varius*
Saltuarius swaini*
Hypsilurus spinipes*
Saproscincus rosei*
Underwoodisaurus milli*
Diplodactylus vittatus*
Diporiphora australis*
Concinnia martini*
Concinnia brachysoma*
Lampropholis guichenoti*
Snakes
Australeps ramsayi*
Drysdalia coronoides*
Pseudonaja textilis (no photo)*
Morelia spilota*
Boiga irregularis*
Dendrelaphis punctulatus
Cacophis squamulosus*
Demansia psammophis*
Pseudechis porphyriacus*
Cryptophis nigrescens*
Vermicella annulata* (no photo)
