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Ctenophorus Maculosus
''Ctenophorus maculosus'', commonly known as the Lake Eyre dragon or salt-lake ground-dragon, is a species of agamid lizard endemic to South Australia. ''C. maculosus'' mainly inhabits the edges of salt lakes in South Australia, from which its common names are derived. It survives in this harsh habitat through adaptive mechanisms to tolerate high temperatures and lack of free water. The female ''C. maculosus'' possesses unique male rejection techniques which are currently the focus of further research. Description ''C. maculosus'' can be identified by a white to pale grey dorsal surface with black blotches and a white ventral surface with a dark longitudinal dark streak. Black and brown spots are observed throughout its body. This cryptic coloration allows the species to blend into the salt surface it inhabits, and color variations are found depending on the specific population's environment. The adult male is about long (including tail), and the adult female is slightly sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis John Mitchell
John Mitchell (Francis John Mitchell, 1929–1970) was a biologist and curator with a special interest in herpetology. Active from South Australia, he was vice president of the state's Royal Society and employed at South Australian Museum. His initial positions at the museum related to the reptile and frog collections, leading to his role as head curator of the vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxon, taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with vertebral column, backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the ...s in 1965. An active and competitive skin diver who was involved in ocean sports and associations, Mitchell was able to align these interests by obtaining specimens from spear and big game fisherman. Work, legacy, and honors Mitchell discovered and described at least a dozen species of reptiles, including the Black-palmed Rock Monitor, ''Varanus glebopalma''. At ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemism
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example ''Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. ''Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic Fauna Of Australia
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example ''Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. ''Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies to s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agamid Lizards Of Australia
Agamidae is a family of over 300 species of iguanian lizards indigenous to Africa, Asia, Australia, and a few in Southern Europe. Many species are commonly called dragons or dragon lizards. Overview Phylogenetically, they may be sister to the Iguanidae, and have a similar appearance. Agamids usually have well-developed, strong legs. Their tails cannot be shed and regenerated like those of geckos (and several other families such as skinks), though a certain amount of regeneration is observed in some. Many agamid species are capable of limited change of their colours to regulate their body temperature. In some species, males are more brightly coloured than females, and colours play a part in signaling and reproductive behaviours. Although agamids generally inhabit warm environments, ranging from hot deserts to tropical rainforests, at least one species, the mountain dragon, is found in cooler regions. They are particularly diverse in Australia. This group of lizards includes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ctenophorus
''Ctenophorus'' is a genus of lizards, commonly known as comb-bearing dragons, in the family Agamidae. The genus contains the most diverse group of dragon lizards in Australia. It is the largest group of Australian lizards and it has an extensive radiation in the arid zones. Many of the species of ''Ctenophorus'' have been grouped by a similar morphology. The informal names and groupings within this genus — rock dragon, crevice-dragon, ground-dragon, sand-dragon, and bicycle-dragon — are named after the mythological creature, the dragon. Lizards in the genus ''Ctenophorus'' may be confused with lizards in the genera ''Tympanocryptis'' and '' Diporiphora''. Swan G, Shea G, Sadlier R (2004) ''A Field Guide to Reptiles of New South Wales''. Sydney, New South Wales: Reed New Holland. . Species There are 34 recognized species in the genus. *''Ctenophorus adelaidensis'' ( Gray, 1841) – western heath dragon *''Ctenophorus butlerorum'' ( Storr, 1977) – Butler's dragon, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oviposition
The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typically its form is adapted to functions such as preparing a place for the egg, transmitting the egg, and then placing it properly. For most insects, the organ is used merely to attach the egg to some surface, but for many parasitic species (primarily in wasps and other Hymenoptera), it is a piercing organ as well. Some ovipositors only retract partly when not in use, and the basal part that sticks out is known as the scape, or more specifically oviscape, the word ''scape'' deriving from the Latin word '' scāpus'', meaning "stalk" or "shaft". In insects Grasshoppers use their ovipositors to force a burrow into the earth to receive the eggs. Cicadas pierce the wood of twigs with their ovipositors to insert the eggs. Sawflies slit th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melophorus
''Melophorus'' (meaning "honey carrier") is a genus of ants in the subfamily Formicinae and the sole member of the tribe Melophorini. The genus is endemic to Australia, where its species are common in arid and semiarid areas. Species *''Melophorus aeneovirens'' (Lowne, 1865) *''Melophorus anderseni'' Agosti, 1998 *''Melophorus bagoti'' Lubbock, 1883 *'' Melophorus biroi'' Forel, 1907 *''Melophorus bruneus'' McAreavey, 1949 *'' Melophorus constans'' Santschi, 1928 *''Melophorus curtus'' Forel, 1902 *''Melophorus fieldi'' Forel, 1910 *''Melophorus fulvihirtus'' Clark, 1941 *''Melophorus hirsutus'' Forel, 1902 *''Melophorus insularis'' Wheeler, 1934 *''Melophorus iridescens'' (Emery, 1887) *''Melophorus laticeps'' Wheeler, 1915 *''Melophorus ludius'' Forel, 1902 *''Melophorus majeri'' Agosti, 1998 *''Melophorus marius'' Forel, 1910 *''Melophorus mjobergi'' Forel, 1915 *''Melophorus omniparens'' Forel, 1915 *''Melophorus pillipes'' Santschi, 1919 *''Melophorus potteri'' McArea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Torrens
Lake Torrens ( Kuyani: ''Ngarndamukia'') is a large ephemeral, normally endorheic salt lake in central South Australia. After sufficiently extreme rainfall events, the lake flows out through the Pirie-Torrens corridor to the Spencer Gulf. Islands on the lake include Andamooka Island and Murdie Island, both near the western shore; Trimmer Inlet runs between Andamooka Island and the shore, and Carrapateena Arm is an arm extending westwards south of Murdie Island. Description Lake Torrens lies between the Arcoona Plateau to the west and the Flinders Ranges to the east, about north of Port Augusta and about north of the Adelaide city centre. The lake is approximately above sea level,Barker, McCaskill & Ward, p.173, 1995 with a maximum depth of 1 m. It is located within the boundaries of Lake Torrens National Park. Lake Torrens stretches approximately in length and in average width. It is Australia's second largest lake when filled with water and encompasses an area of . ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Callabonna
Lake Callabonna is a dry salt lake with little to no vegetation located in the Far North region of South Australia. The lake is situated approximately southwest of Cameron Corner, the junction of South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales. It is also known as Lake Mulligan. The lake is an important site for late Pleistocene fossils. It is within the extent of the Strzelecki Desert Lakes Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for waterbirds when holding water in the aftermath of floods. History The first pastoralists in the area were the Ragless brothers in 1881, who moved there from the northern Flinders Ranges, opening a sheep-run. The station owner in 1892, F. B. Ragless, was shown a number of giant skeletons embedded in the dry surface of the lake, discovered two days before by an Aboriginal station hand named Jackie Nolan. The South Australian Museum sent a worker, H. Hurst, to investigate the site and four mont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Eyre
Lake Eyre ( ), officially known as Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, is an endorheic lake in east-central Far North South Australia, some north of Adelaide. The shallow lake is the depocentre of the vast endorheic Lake Eyre basin, and contains the lowest natural point in Australia at approximately below sea level ( AHD), and on the rare occasions that it fills completely, is the largest lake in Australia covering an area up to . When the lake is full, it has the same salinity level as seawater, but becomes hypersaline as the lake dries up and the water evaporates. The lake was named in honour of Edward John Eyre, the first European to see it in 1840. The lake's official name was changed in December 2012 to combine the name "Lake Eyre" with the Aboriginal name, Kati Thanda. The native title over the lake and surrounding region is held by the Arabana people. Geography Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre is in the deserts of central Australia, in northern South Australia. The L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horned Lizard
Horned lizards (''Phrynosoma''), also known as horny toads or horntoads, are a genus of North American lizards and the type genus of the family Phrynosomatidae. The common names refer directly to their horns or to their flattened, rounded bodies, and blunt snouts. The generic name ''Phrynosoma'' means "toad-bodied". In common with true toads ( amphibians of the family Bufonidae), horned lizards tend to move sluggishly, often remain motionless, and rely on their remarkable camouflage to avoid detection by predators. They are adapted to arid or semiarid areas. The spines on the lizard's back and sides are modified reptile scales, which prevent water loss through the skin, whereas the horns on the head are true horns (i.e., they have a bony core). Of the 21 species of horned lizards, 15 are native to the USA. The largest-bodied and most widely distributed of the American species is the Texas horned lizard. Defenses Horned lizards use a variety of means to avoid predation. Their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold Cogger
Harold George "Hal" Cogger (born 4 May 1935) is an Australian herpetologist. He was curator of reptiles and amphibians at the Australian Museum from 1960 to 1975, and Deputy Director of the museum from 1976 to 1995. He has written extensively on Australian herpetology, and was the first author to create a field guide for all Australian frogs and reptiles. Cogger was made an honorary Doctor of Science in 1997. At least eight reptile taxa have been named after Cogger, including one genus, six species, and one subspecies: '' Coggeria'', ''Ctenotus coggeri'', ''Emoia coggeri'', ''Geomyersia coggeri'', ''Hydrophis coggeri'', ''Lampropholis coggeri'', ''Oedura coggeri ''Oedura coggeri'', commonly known as the northern spotted velvet gecko, is a species of gecko, a lizard in the family Diplodactylidae. The species is endemic to Queensland, Australia. Etymology The specific name, ''coggeri'', is in honor of Au ...'', and '' Diporiphora nobbi coggeri''. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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