Frogs and Reptiles of the Murray–Darling Basin: A Guide to Their Identification, Ecology and Conservation

352 Pages·2020·14.596 MB·English

by  Michael Swan

Frogs and Reptiles
F
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The Murray–Darling Basin spans more than o
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1 million square kilometres across the lower
s
third of Queensland, most of New South a of the
Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, n
d
northern Victoria and the south-eastern Murray-Darling Basin

R
corner of South Australia. Wildlife habitats
e
range from the floodplains of the Basin to p
alpine areas, making the region of special t
i
l
ecological and environmental interest. e
s
A Guide to Their Identification, Ecology and Conservation

This book is the first comprehensive guide o
f
to the 310 species of frogs and reptiles living

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in the Murray–Darling Basin. An overview h
of each of the 22 catchment areas introduces e

the unique and varied climates, topography, M
vegetation and fauna. Comprehensive
u
species accounts include diagnostic features, r
r
conservation ratings, photographs and a
About the author y
distribution maps for all frogs, freshwater -
turtles, lizards and snakes recorded in this Mike Swan was previously a D
senior herpetofauna keeper with a
important region.
Melbourne Zoo and Healesville r
l
Sanctuary and was part of captive in
breeding programs for the Fijian g
Iguana, Broad-headed Snake,
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Corroboree Frog, Stuttering Frog,
a
Philippine Crocodile and many s
other species. He is now the in
coordinator of the Lilydale High

School reptile collection, the
largest school collection of reptiles M
and frogs in Australia. He is also a i
c
keen photographer and has written
h
numerous articles, papers and a
books about reptiles and frogs. e
l

S
w
a
n
MICHAEL SWAN
Frogs and Reptiles Cover Final.indd 1 1/10/19 10:00 am

Frogs and Reptiles
of the
Murray-Darling Basin
A Guide to Their Identification, Ecology and Conservation
MICHAEL SWAN
© Mike Swan 2020
All rights reserved. Except under the conditions described in the Australian Copyright Act 1968 and
subsequent amendments, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, duplicating or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Contact CSIRO Publishing for all permission
requests.
The author asserts their moral rights, including the right to be identified as the author.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia.
ISBN: 9781486311323 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781486311330 (epdf)
ISBN: 9781486311347 (epub)
Published by:
CSIRO Publishing
Locked Bag 10
Clayton South VIC 3169
Australia
Telephone: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.publish.csiro.au
Front cover: (left, top to bottom) Crucifix Frog (Notaden bennettii) (photo: S. Mahony), Broad-shelled Turtle
(Chelodina expansa) (photo: J. Farquhar), Lace Monitor (Varanus varius) (photo: M. G. Swan); (right) Inland
Carpet Python (Morelia spilota metcalfei) (photo: J. Farquhar)
Back cover: (top to bottom) Emerald-spotted Tree Frog (Litoria peroni) (photo: J. Farquhar), Smooth
Knob-tailed Gecko (Nephrurus levis) (photo: J. Farquhar), Snake-necked Turtle (Chelodina longicollis)
(photo: G. Schmida)
Set in 9.5/12 Minion
Edited by Peter Storer
Cover design by James Kelly
Typeset by Envisage Information Technology
Printed in China by Toppan Leefung Printing Limited
CSIRO Publishing publishes and distributes scientific, technical and health science books, magazines and
journals from Australia to a worldwide audience and conducts these activities autonomously from the
research activities of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The views
expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of, and should
not be attributed to, the publisher or CSIRO. The copyright owner shall not be liable for technical or other
errors or omissions contained herein. The reader/user accepts all risks and responsibility for losses, damages,
costs and other consequences resulting directly or indirectly from using this information.
The paper this book is printed on is in accordance with the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council® and
other controlled material. The FSC® promotes environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and
economically viable management of the world’s forests.
Oct19_01
Contents
Preface v
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction 1
Frogs 37
Foam-nesting ground frogs (Family Limnodynastidae) 42
Ground frogs (Family Myobatrachidae) 57
Tree frogs (Family Pelodryadidae) 74
True toads (Family Bufonidae) 102
Freshwater turtles 105
Side-necked Freshwater Turtles (Family Chelidae) 109
Lizards 115
Southern padless geckos (Family Carphodactylidae) 120
Diplodactylid geckos (Family Diplodactylidae) 125
Cosmopolitan geckos (Family Gekkonidae) 142
Flap-footed lizards (Family Pygopodidae) 148
Skinks (Family Scincidae) 159
Dragons (Family Agamidae) 235
Monitor lizards/goannas (Family Varanidae) 252
Snakes 257
Blind snakes (Family Typhlopidae) 263
Pythons (Family Pythonidae) 270
Colubrid snakes (Family Colubridae) 275
Venomous land snakes (Family Elapidae) 278
Species checklist 311
Glossary 331
References 333
Index of common names 335
Index of scientific names 339
iii
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Preface
This book is the first comprehensive guide to The Murray–Darling Basin is at the
the frogs and reptiles of the Murray–Darling forefront of many Australians’ minds as an
Basin: a massive depression with an area of area of much environmental concern
1 059 000 km2 that spans most of New South involving government organisations,
Wales, northern Victoria, the Australian farmers, politicians, Indigenous Australians,
Capital Territory, the lower third of tourist guides and recreational users. The
Queensland and the south-eastern corner of management of water in the system remains
South Australia. It examines the 66 species the greatest area of debate focusing on
of frogs and 244 reptiles that are found availability and quality. The natural flow
through the 22 smaller catchments that cycles of the system have been altered over
make up the greater Murray–Darling Basin. time to improve agriculture but it has come
Each catchment is unique and varies in at a cost to the environment.
climate, topography, vegetation and fauna. Frogs in particular are affected by
The guide has been produced to allow increased salinity, pollutants and the
readers to identify the frogs, freshwater reduction or alteration of wetlands. Reptiles
turtles, lizards and snakes of the region, are at risk from changes to habitat by
using descriptive species accounts, overgrazing, clearing and controlled
photographs and distribution maps. The burning. Also invasive species preying on
species accounts provide descriptions of their eggs and juveniles, resulting in low
morphological features of each animal and recruitment.
includes notes on their habitat, behaviour, General information and promotional
conservation status and distribution. material on the herpetofauna of this very
The common and scientific names used important region of Australia is limited and
in the book follow: suggests the high number of species it
• Clulow S, Swan MG (2018), A Complete contains is greatly under appreciated.
Guide to Frogs of Australia. Australian Hopefully this publication will lead to a
Geographic Holdings, Sydney much better understanding of the diversity
• Wilson SK, Swan G (2017) A Complete of the frogs and reptiles in the Murray–
Guide to Reptiles of Australia. 5th edn. Darling Basin and to more concerted efforts
Reed New Holland, Sydney. for their long-term conservation.
v
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Acknowledgements
If you decide to write a book you, are species accounts and his recommendations
accepting a project that will take over your greatly improved that section. Timothy
life until it is completed. No book is ever Swan assisted with proofreading and made
produced without assistance from suggestions for initial drafts.
colleagues, friends and family. Jules Farquhar is the featured
For their initial support of the project I photographer and provided the majority of
would like to thank Nick Clemann (Arthur images. His work is outstanding and it has
Rylah Institute), Jules Farquhar, Eloise enriched the book. I thank him for his
Moir-Ford (CSIRO Publishing) and Steve enthusiasm and effort in making available
K. Wilson (Queensland Museum). so many wonderful photographs.
For assistance with taxonomy, I would also like to thank the other
distribution records and obtaining images: photographers who generously provided
Andrew Amey (Queensland Museum), their images: Marion Anstis, Robert
Scott Eipper (Nature 4 You), Harry Hines, Ashdown, Brian Bush, Matt Clancy, Nick
(Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service) Clemann, Scott Eipper, Damian Goodall,
Rod Hobson, Stephen Mahony (Australian Ken Griffiths, Harry Hines, Dave Hunter,
Museum), Brendan James Murray, Glenn Stephen Mahony, Brad Maryan, Michael
Shea (University of Sydney), Gerry Swan, McFadden, Daniel O’Brien, Greg Parker,
Ron Waters and Steve K. Wilson, Peter Robertson, Claudia Santori, Gunther
(Queensland Museum). Schmida, Graham Stockfeld, Geoff Swan,
For information relating to conservation Philip Topham, Paula Watson, Steve K.
programs and field studies: Nick Clemann Wilson and Stephen Zozaya.
(Arthur Rylah Institute), Dave Hunter Rachael Hammond produced the
(Office of Environment and Heritage), illustrations and Marcus Whitby assisted
Ricky Spencer (Western Sydney University), with the distribution maps.
Graham Stockfeld (Turtles Australia Inc.) The ongoing support from my wife
and James Van Dyke (Charles Sturt Stephanie and sons Daniel and Timothy is
University). immeasurable and has enabled me to follow
I am particularly indebted to Stephen my herpetological interests.
Mahony for volunteering to critique the
vii
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