DESERT DEATH ADDER

Photographed near Glen Helen Resort, Northern Territory, October 2018

112                  DESERT DEATH ADDER                   Acanthophis pyrrhus

AUSTRALIAN SNAKES                   25

Dangerously venomous. Vulnerable. Found in spinifex deserts, including sand ridges, sandy or stony flats and rocky outcrops. Range sw NT, nw SA parts of central WA.                 

ORANGE-NAPED SNAKE

Photographed near Glen Helen Resort, Northern Territory, October 2018

111                  ORANGE-NAPED SNAKE                     Furina ornata

AUSTRALIAN SNAKES                  24

Also known as Moon Snake. Found in a variety of habitat, woodlands, scrublands and spinifex desert. Widespread over subhumid to arid northern Australia; northern two-thirds WA, most NT, northern SA northern Queensland.

CENTRAL PEBBLE DRAGON

Photographed at Kata Tjuta, Northern Territory, October 2018

110                 CENTRAL PEBBLE DRAGON                   Tympanocryptis centralis

AUSTRALIAN LIZARD                       78

Also known as Centralian Earless Dragon. Found in central western NT and corresponding area of eastern WA. Inhabits stony hills and plains.

BLACK-HEADED MONITOR

Photographed at Uluru, Northern Territory, October 2018

109                 BLACK-HEADED MONITOR                 Varanus tristis tristis  

AUSTRALIAN LIZARD                    77

Also known as Freckled Monitor. A subspecies of the Black-tailed Monitor, Varanus tristis. Found across most of WA, Queensland, all of NT, northern half SA, and nw NSW. Feeds mainly on insects, but also small lizards, eggs and rodents. Usually found in grassy woodlands.

Photographed at Standley Gorge, NT, October 2018

CENTRALIAN PRICKLY KNOB-TAILED GECKO

Photographed 100 kms west of Alice Springs, October 2018

108                 CENTRALIAN PRICKLY KNOB-TAILED GECKO                     Nephrurus amyae

AUSTRALIAN LIZARDS               76

Found in area in southern NT. Inhabits rocky outcrops, sheltering deep below in heat of day.

VARIABLE FAT-TAILED GECKO

Photographed 120 kms west of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, October 2018

107                   VARIABLE FAT-TAILED GECKO                     Diplodactylus conspicillatus

AUSTRALIAN LIZARDS                      L75

Shelters during day in disused spider holes; suggestion uses tail to block entrance to keep predators out and maintain temperature of burrow. When agitated curls into ball, inflated body or raises tail and drops head. Found northern 2/3 of WA, most of NT except far nw, northern half of SAfrom western Queensland to near central coast (not on the Cape or se Q.

INLAND SNAKE-EYED SKINK

Photographed at Alice Springs, Northern Territory, September 2018

106              INLAND SNAKE-EYED SKINK               Crytoblepharus australis

AUSTRALIAN LIZARDS                  74

Widespread, arboreal skink in central Australia. Observed basking on trunks of trees bordering waterways, logs, fence posts. Found in central Australia from centre east of WA, most of SA, southern NT, nw NSW and most of southern half of Queensland except coastal.