This spectacular beast must be the one of the Pilbara’s most intriguing creatures. Ghost Bats spend their days hanging from the roof of deep caves and adits, taking flight at night when they stretch their massive wing span of up to 500 mm. Their iniquitous look is matched only by their brutal feeding habits that [...]
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Ghost Bat (Macroderma gigas)
Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata)
Malleefowl are members of the megapodiidae family along with other Australian “mound builders” such as the Orange-footed Scrubfowl and the Australian Brush-turkey. These birds are known for their nesting behaviour that includes the construction of large mounds of vegetation and dirt (see photo below) in which the female places its eggs.
In thick, remnant vegetation in [...]
Small Mammals and Pads
Dunnart species are notoriously difficult to differientiate in the field. In the Pilbara and Murchison regions there is evident and theoretical overlap between numerous species such as:
Stripe-faced Dunnart (Sminthopsis macroura);
Fat-tailed Dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata);
Hairy-footed Dunnart (Sminthopsis hirtipes);
Lesser Hairy-footed Dunnart (Sminthopsis youngsoni);
Ooldea Dunnart (Sminthopsis ooldea); and
Long-tailed Dunnart (Sminthopsis longicaudata).
To determine the difference between species you often need [...]
Motion Sensitive Cameras
Biologic recently tested out a motion sensitive camera that has been designed for long term monitoring in rugged conditions. Motion sensitive cameras can be used to detect cryptic species that may not be detected by traditional survey methods. These cameras could be valuable for the detection of species such as Night Parrots, Bilbies, Mulgara and [...]
Knob-tailed Gecko – Nephrurus wheeleri
This amazing shot of a Knob-tailed Gecko, like most of the shots on this blog was taken by Dean Bradshaw. This gecko belongs to the genus Nephrurus and appears to be a characature or cartoon drawing of a gecko. This genus is endemic to Australia and characterised by a large head and a short tail [...]
Legless lizard – Delma fraseri
The little guy in the photo below is a legless lizard captured during a fauna survey in arid WA.
It belongs to the Pygopod (translates to flap-footed) family, and its scientific name is Delma fraseri. Members of the Delma genus can sometimes look quite similar and require a closer look at the scale arrangement on the head [...]
Lucky (Thorny) Devil
Hundreds of thousands of reptiles die on the seemingly never-ending stretches of tar which dissect the Australian outback. Snakes and Lizards drawn to the warm surface in the morning and evenings, especially during spring, coming up short against the numerous road trains and other vehicles making long journeys between towns.
This individual, a Thorny Devil (Moloch horridus), [...]
Scorpion Tail
The scorpion’s sting, located at the tip of what is known as the ‘metasoma’, comprises two major parts. At the base of the sting is a swollen area known as the telson. This contains the two venom glands. The rear part of the telson forms a sharp stinger called the aculeus.
The sting apparatus functions like [...]
Anabat Technology
Bioacoustics and the study of animal calls – encompasses everything from the howl of a wolf to the trumpeting reverberations made by elephants. One of the most fascinating things about this sphere of biology is that scientists are only beginning to understand the complicated language of animals which until recently remained undetectable and mysterious thanks [...]
Pilbara Olive Python (Liasis olivaceus barroni)
This large Pilbara Olive Python was seen while camping at one of the waterholes north of Newman. Other nocturnal visitor’s to this rockpool included Rothschild’s Rock Wallaby (Petrogale rothschildi), Stimson’s Python (Antaresia stimsoni), Spotted Rock Dtella (Gehyra punctata) and the Desert Tree Frog (Litoria rubella).
This Olive Python is well known to Newman locals, and is [...]
