Reptiles & Amphibians of Australia

1064 Pages·2014·107.606 MB·English

by  Cogger, Harold G

seventH edition
Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia is a complete and definitive guide to Australia’s rich R e p t i l e s
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and varied herpetofauna, including frogs, crocodiles, turtles, tortoises, lizards and snakes.
For each of the 1218 species there is a description of its appearance, distribution and R
habits. Each species is accompanied by a distribution map and, in most cases, a colour
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photograph of the living animal.

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The book includes 134 simple-to-use dichotomous keys that in most cases allow a
specimen in hand to be identified. In addition, it has a comprehensive list of scientific t of Australia
references for those wishing to conduct more in-depth research, an extensive glossary,
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and basic guides to the collection, preservation and captive care of specimens. l
seventH edition
This classic work, originally published in 1975, has been completely revised and brought e
up to date. This seventh edition includes all species described prior to October 2013.
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About the author
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Dr Harold (Hal) Cogger AM is one of Australia’s leading herpetologists and a former f

Deputy Director of the Australian Museum in Sydney. Currently the John Evans Memorial A

Fellow at the Australian Museum, he also holds life memberships of the Australian Society u
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of Herpetologists, the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, and the s
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Herpetologists’ League Inc. He has published widely on reptiles and amphibians, including r m
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the six previous editions of this book. Most of his field research has been undertaken in
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Australia, New Guinea and the Pacific. a p
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Harold G
Cogger
Harold G Cogger
R&A Cover-PLC.indd 1 4/12/13 2:15 PM
Reptiles &
AmphibiAns

of Australia
ii
R e p t i l e s
&
A m p h i b iAn s

of Australia
seventh edition
harold G Cogger
© Harold G. Cogger 2014
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.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Cogger, Harold G. author.
Reptiles and amphibians of Australia / Harold G Cogger.
Seventh edition.
9780643100350 (hardback)
9780643109773 (epdf)
9780643109780 (epub)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Reptiles – Australia.
Reptiles – Australia – Identification.
Amphibians – Australia.
Amphibians – Australia – Identification.
597.90994
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Front cover (clockwise from top): Ctenotus taeniolatus, Emydura subglobosa, Pseudechis porphyriacus,
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Contents
List of currently recognised species vii
Preface to the 7th edition xxvii
Acknowledgements xxix
Introduction 1
Descriptions 1
Zoological names 2
Common names 4
Illustrations 5
The distribution maps – and how to interpret them 5
Patterns of frog and reptile distributions in Australia 7
Compiling species lists 9
Habit 10
Subspecies 11
Making an identification 11
Conservation and protection 14
Location of specimens for photography or for authorised capture 15
Collecting/sampling methods 17
Transporting live specimens 21
Preservation of specimens 22
Captive specimens 24
Introduced (exotic) species 28
Snakebite and its treatment 29
Amphibians 31
Frogs 33
Diagnostic characters in frogs 34
Family Limnodynastidae (Limnodynastid Frogs) 37
Family Myobatrachidae (Southern Frogs) 70
Family Hylidae (Tree Frogs) 132
Family Microhylidae (Narrow-mouthed Toads) 198
Family Ranidae (‘True’ Frogs) 215
Family Bufonidae (‘True’ Toads) 216
v
Contents
Reptiles 219
Crocodiles 220
Family Crocodylidae (Crocodiles) 220
Turtles and tortoises 223
Diagnostic characters in turtles 224
Family Cheloniidae (Sea-turtles) 225
Family Dermochelyidae (Leathery Turtle) 232
Family Carettochelydidae (Pitted-shelled Turtle) 234
Family Chelidae (Side-necked Tortoises) 236
Lizards 257
Diagnostic characters in lizards 258
Family Carphodactylidae (Southern Padless Geckos) 261
Family Diplodactylidae (Austral Geckos) 286
Family Gekkonidae (Typical Geckos) 345
Family Pygopodidae (Snake-lizards) 378
Family Scincidae (Skinks) 408
Family Agamidae (Dragon Lizards) 692
Family Varanidae (Goannas or Monitor Lizards) 761
Snakes 789
Diagnostic characters in snakes 790
Family Typhlopidae (Blind Snakes) 791
Family Boidae (Pythons) 814
Family Acrochordidae (File Snakes) 832
Family Colubridae (Colubrid Snakes) 834
Family Homalopsidae (Water Snakes) 843
Family Elapidae (Elapid Snakes) 849
Family Elapidae, subfamily Hydrophiinae (Elapid Land Snakes) 854
Family Elapidae, subfamily Hydrophiinae (Elapid Sea Snakes) 940
Family Elapidae, subfamily Laticaudinae (Elapid Sea Kraits) 970
Addenda 972
Glossary 979
Selected references 985
Index of scientific names and general terms 1013
Index of common names 1027
vi
List of currently recognised species of Australian reptiles and amphibians, by
family, together with a page reference to the description of each species in the
book, and a table of distributions by State and bioregion
Key to Bioregions (see map on page 10) 14 Eyrean region
1 South-west Australia 15 Murray–Darling basin
2 Humid Arnhem-KImberley
3 Sub-humid Arnhem-KImberley Key to states and teritories
4 Cape York Q Queensland
5 Wet Tropics NT Northen Territory
6 East-central Queensland WA Western Australia
7 Humid east coast SA South Australia
8 South-east uplands Vi Victoria
9 Australian Alps NS New South Wales
10 Tasmania LH Lord Howe island
11 Victorian lowlands No Norfolk Island
12 Narracorte-Yorke-Eyre Co Cocos (Keeling) Island
13 Mitchel-grass channel country Ch Christmas Island
page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Q NT WA SA Vi NS LH No Co Ch
Frogs
FAMILY LIMNODYNASTIDAE
Adelotus brevis 38 ● ● ● ● ●
Heleioporus albopunctatus 41 ● ●
Heleioporus australiacus 41 ● ● ● ● ●
Heleioporus barycragus 42 ● ●
Heleioporus eyrei 42 ● ●
Heleioporus inornatus 43 ● ●
Heleioporus psammophilus 43 ● ●
Lechriodus fletcheri 44 ● ● ●
Limnodynastes convexiusculus 45 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Limnodynastes depressus 47 ● ● ●
Limnodynastes dorsalis 47 ● ●
Limnodynastes dumerilii 48 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Limnodynastes fletcheri 48 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Limnodynastes interioris 49 ● ● ●
Limnodynastes lignarius 50 ● ● ●
Limnodynastes peronii 50 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Limnodynastes salmini 51 ● ● ● ● ● ●
Limnodynastes tasmaniensis 52 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Limnodynastes terraereginae 53 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Neobatrachus albipes 55 ● ● ●
Neobatrachus aquilonius 55 ● ● ● ● ●
Neobatrachus fulvus 56 ● ●
Neobatrachus kunapalari 56 ● ● ●
Neobatrachus pelobatoides 57 ● ● ●
Neobatrachus pictus 57 ● ● ● ● ● ?
Neobatrachus sudellae 58 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Neobatrachus sutor 59 ● ● ● ● ●
Neobatrachus wilsmorei 59 ● ● ●
Notaden bennettii 61 ● ● ● ● ● ●
Notaden melanoscaphus 62 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Notaden nichollsi 62 ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Notaden weigeli 63 ● ●
Philoria frosti 64 ● ●
Philoria kundagungan 65 ● ● ●
Philoria loveridgei 65 ● ● ●
Philoria pughi 66 ● ●
Philoria richmondensis 66 ● ●
Philoria sphagnicola 67 ● ●
vii
List of CurrentL y reCognised speCies
page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Q NT WA SA Vi NS LH No Co Ch
Platyplectrum ornatum 68 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Platyplectrum spenceri 69 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
FAMILY MYObATrACHIDAE
Arenophryne rotunda 72 ● ●
Arenophryne xiphorhyncha 73 ● ●
Assa darlingtoni 73 ● ● ●
Crinia bilingua - 76 ● ● ● ● ●
Crinia deserticola - 76 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Crinia fimbriata 77 ● ●
Crinia flindersensis 77 ● ●
Crinia georgiana 78 ● ●
Crinia glauerti 78 ● ●
Crinia insignifera 79 ● ●
Crinia nimba 79 ●
Crinia parinsignifera 80 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Crinia pseudinsignifera 80 ● ● ●
Crinia remota 81 ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Crinia riparia 82 ● ● ●
Crinia signifera 82 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Crinia sloanei 84 ● ● ●
Crinia subinsignifera 85 ● ●
Crinia tasmaniensis 85 ●
Crinia tinnula 86 ● ● ●
Geocrinia alba 87 ● ●
Geocrinia laevis 88 ● ● ● ● ●
Geocrinia leai 89 ● ●
Geocrinia lutea 90 ● ●
Geocrinia rosea 90 ● ●
Geocrinia victoriana 91 ● ● ● ● ● ●
Geocrinia vitellina 92 ● ●
Metacrinia nichollsi 93 ● ●
Mixophyes balbus 95 ● ● ● ●
Mixophyes carbinensis 95 ● ● ●
Mixophyes coggeri 96 ● ● ●
Mixophyes fasciolatus 96 ● ● ● ● ●
Mixophyes fleayi 97 ● ● ●
Mixophyes iteratus 97 ● ● ●
Mixophyes schevilli 98 ● ●
Myobatrachus gouldii 99 ● ●
Paracrinia haswelli 100 ● ● ● ●
Pseudophryne australis 103 ● ●
Pseudophryne bibronii 103 ● ● ● ● ● ● ? ● ● ● ● ●
Pseudophryne coriacea 104 ● ● ●
Pseudophryne corroboree 104 ● ●
Pseudophryne covacevichae 105 ● ● ●
Pseudophryne dendyi 105 ● ● ● ● ●
Pseudophryne douglasi 106 . ● ●
Pseudophryne guentheri 106 ● . ● ●
Pseudophryne major 107 ● ● . . ● ●
Pseudophryne occidentalis 107 ● ● ●
Pseudophryne pengilleyi 108 . ● ●
Pseudophryne raveni 108 ● ● . ●
Pseudophryne robinsoni 109 ● ●
Pseudophryne semimarmorata 109 . ● ● ● ● ● ●
Rheobatrachus silus 110 ● ●
Rheobatrachus vitellinus 111 ● ●
Spicospina flammocaerulea 112 ● ● ●
Taudactylus acutirostris 114 ● ● ● ●
Taudactylus diurnus 114 . ● ●
Taudactylus eungellensis 115 ● ●
Taudactylus liemi 116 . ● ●
Taudactylus pleione 116 ● ●
Taudactylus rheophilus 117 ● ● . ●
viii
List of CurrentL y reCognised speCies
page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Q NT WA SA Vi NS LH No Co Ch
Uperoleia altissima 120 ● . ●
Uperoleia arenicola 120 ● . ●
Uperoleia aspera 121 ● ●
Uperoleia borealis 121 ● ● . . ● ●
Uperoleia capitulata 122 . ● ● ● ● ● ●
Uperoleia crassa 122 ● ●
Uperoleia daviesae 123 ● ●
Uperoleia fusca 123 ● ● . . ● ●
Uperoleia glandulosa 124 ● ● ●
Uperoleia inundata 124 ● ● ● ● ●
Uperoleia laevigata 125 ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Uperoleia lithomoda 125 ● ● ● ● ● . ● ● ●
Uperoleia littlejohni 126 . ● ● ● ●
Uperoleia marmorata 126 ● . . . . ●
Uperoleia martini 126 . . . . ● ● ● ● ●
Uperoleia micra 126 ● . . ●
Uperoleia micromeles 127 . ● ● ●
Uperoleia mimula 127 ● ● ● . . ●
Uperoleia minima 128 ● ●
Uperoleia mjobergii 128 ● . ●
Uperoleia orientalis 129 ● . . . ● ●
Uperoleia rugosa 129 . ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Uperoleia russelli 130 . ● ●
Uperoleia saxatilis 130 ● ●
Uperoleia talpa 130 ● . ●
Uperoleia trachyderma 131 ● ● . . . ● . . ● ●
Uperoleia tyleri 131 ● ● ● . ● ● ●
FAMILY HYLIDAE
Cyclorana alboguttata 134 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Cyclorana australis 135 ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Cyclorana brevipes 135 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Cyclorana cryptotis 136 . ● ● ● ● ●
Cyclorana cultripes 136 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Cyclorana longipes 137 ● ● ? ● ●
Cyclorana maculosa 138 ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Cyclorana maini 138 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Cyclorana manya 139 ● ● . ●
Cyclorana novaehollandiae 140 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Cyclorana platycephala 140 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Cyclorana vagita 141 ● ● ●
Cyclorana verrucosa 142 ● ● ● ● ● ●
Litoria adelaidensis 149 ● ●
Litoria andiirrmalin 149 ● ●
Litoria aurea 150 ● ● ● ● ●
Litoria aurifera 151 ● ●
Litori axillaris 151 ● ●
Litoria bicolor 152 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Litoria booroolongensis 152 ● ● ● ●
Litoria brevipalmata 153 ● . ● ●
Litoria burrowsae 154 ●
Litoria caerulea 154 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Litoria castanea 155 ● ●
Litoria cavernicola 156 ● ●
Litoria chloris 156 ● ● ● ●
Litoria citropa 157 ● ● ● ● ●
Litoria cooloolensis 158 ● ●
Litoria coplandi 159 ● ● ● ● ●
Litoria cyclorhyncha 159 ● ●
Litoria dahlii 160 ● ● ● ● ● ●
Litoria daviesae 160 ● . ● ●
Litoria dayi 197 ● ●
Litoria dentata 161 ● ● ● ● ●
Litoria electrica 162 ● . ● ●
ix