Search

Australian lizards are a diverse group distributed across the continent and inhabiting a wide range of environments. Together, they exhibit a remarkable diversity of reproductive morphologies, physiologies, and behaviours that is broadly representative of vertebrates in general. Many reproductive traits exhibited by Australian lizards have evolved independently in multiple lizard lineages, including sociality, complex signalling and mating systems, viviparity, and temperature-dependent sex determination. Australian lizards are thus outstanding model organisms for testing hypotheses about how reproductive traits function and evolve, and they provide an important basis of comparison with other animals that exhibit similar traits. We review how research on Australian lizard reproduction has contributed to answering broader evolutionary and ecological questions that apply to animals in general. We focus on reproductive traits, processes, and strategies that are important areas of current research, including behaviours and signalling involved in courtship; mechanisms involved in mating, egg production, and sperm competition; nesting and gestation; sex determination; and finally, birth in viviparous species. We use our review to identify important questions that emerge from an understanding of this body of research when considered holistically. Finally, we identify additional research questions within each topic that Australian lizards are well suited for reproductive biologists to address.

Phyllurus pinnaclensis sp. nov. Pinnacles Leaf-tailed Gecko (Figs 2, 3, 4A, 5A) Material examined. Holotype. QMJ96418, adult male, The Pinnacles (19.410��S, 146.614��E), 2 November 2015, C. J. Hoskin & M. Higgie. Paratypes. None. Diagnosis. Distinguished from congeners by the following characters: cylindrical, tapering tail; rostral scale partially divided by a single groove; high internasal count (7���10, typically 9 or 10); high subdigital lamellae count under the 4 th toe (19���21); original tail long (> 85% SVL) and largely devoid of tubercles after the basal quarter. Etymology. Refers to The Pinnacles, the locality to which this species appears to be restricted. Description of holotype. Measurements and scale counts. SVL = 85.22 mm, T (original) = 74.28 mm, TW = 6.94 mm, TD = 4.90 mm, AG = 38.76 mm, NL = 17.32 mm, HL = 22.69 mm, HW = 19.18 mm, HD = 8.20 mm, S = 10.98 mm, L1 = 37.90 mm, FLL = 16.00 mm, L2 = 49.10 mm, HLL = 19.10 mm, internasals = 10, supralabials = 16 (left side) and 15 (right side), infralabials = 15, subdigital lamellae under fingers (listed 1 st ���5 th) = 12, 14, 17, 17, 16, subdigital lamellae under toes (listed 1 st ���5 th) = 13, 17, 19, 20, 20. Head. Large, depressed, triangular; covered in very small granules with larger, pale, conical tubercles at back and sides of head (Figs 2A, 3, 4A); a bony ridge with larger granules extends forward from upper anterior margin of each eye towards naris (Fig. 3); skin of head co-ossified with skull; deep, vertical groove partially (25%) dividing rostral scale (Fig. 5A); rostral not in contact with nostril; 10 scales along the dorsal margin of rostral shield (Fig. 5A); first supralabial scale taller than wide, remaining supralabials broad and steadily decreasing in size; first infralabial scale taller than wide, remaining infralabials broad and steadily decreasing in size; granular scales of chin and throat largest along the edge of the mental and infralabials (particularly abutting infralabials 1���3) and diminishing in size to minute granules on the throat; ear opening inconspicuous, elliptical, vertical, much less than half as large as eye. Neck. Broad; covered in small granules that are intermixed with larger pale conical tubercles, including prominent, sharp tubercles on the back of the head and anterior neck (Figs 2A, 3, 4A). Body. Depressed, covered in small granules; flank granules intermixed with larger pale, conical tubercles (Figs 2A, 3, 4A); tubercles on back very small; ventral surface covered in even, smooth, fine granules, with no enlarged tubercles; preanal pores absent; large testicular bulge; conspicuous cloacal ���spurs���, consisting of a cluster of white triangular scales, on the anterior-lateral margin (Fig. 4A); axilla deeply invaginated. Limbs. Long and very slender, covered in small pointed tubercles dorsally (Figs 2A, 3, 4A); lacking enlarged tubercles on ventral surface; digits strongly compressed distally; dorsal surface of hands, feet and digits without enlarged conical tubercles (Fig. 3). Original tail. Long, cylindrical, tapering (Figs 2A, 4A); slightly depressed at base; distal quarter of tail a very narrow attenuated tip, terminating with a minute, rounded, white 'knob'; dorsal surface covered in minute granules and fine tubercles; prominent enlarged spinose tubercles restricted to the basal quarter; ventral surface smooth with a mosaic of fine round scales. Colour pattern in spirit (Fig. 4A). Dorsal base colour tan, with irregular dark brown blotches on head, body and limbs; blotches largest on body and neck, smallest on head; eyelids bluish grey; pale band from lower anterior margin of eye diagonally to midway along jaw, and similar pale band from lower posterior margin of eye diagonally to just behind jaw; pale ���band��� anterior to base of tail, and inconspicuous, irregular, pale transverse ���bars��� on back; top of hands and feet pale; most digits strongly banded; inner anterior digit almost completely white; original tail finely mottled light brown, with five prominent, regular, bright white transverse bands and fine white ���knob��� on tip; all ventral surfaces pale cream, with a few light brown smudges on throat, underside of limbs and testicular bulge. Colour pattern in life. As above but base colour of body much lighter (whitish grey) and brown stippling on tail darker (Figs 2A, 3). Note: Abbreviations of measurements are: SVL, Snout to vent length; AG, axilla to groin length; FL, forearm length; HLL, lower hindlimb length; T(O), original tail length; T(R), regenerated tail length; TW(O), original tail width; TD(O), original tail depth; HW, head width; HL, head length; HD, head depth; S, snout length; NL, neck length. See Methods for definitions. Field data. Data was collected from an additional nine individuals in the field. Morphometrics and scalation. See Table 1. Original tail. Shape as for holotype but slightly more depressed at base in some individuals. Tail colouration generally as for holotype, with all (N = 7) individuals having five prominent white bands (excluding white tip). Two of these individuals also had one or two less conspicuous thin, pale bands on tail. In most individuals, base colour (between the white bands) is darker than for holotype, generally almost black. Regenerated tail (Fig. 2B). Slightly depressed, cylindrical, bulbous at base and tapering to tip; covered with uniform granules aligned in fine concentric rings for the full length of the tail; no spinose tubercles. Regenerated tail heavily mottled dark brown on a tan base colour. Colour pattern. As described for the holotype but with the following variation. Base colour of some individuals is brown, giving the whole animal a much darker appearance (e.g., Fig. 2B). Some individuals, have prominent pale spots or blotches on the dorsal surfaces of the body, head and limbs; in juveniles and subadults these are bright white. Variation in tail colour pattern described immediately above. Comparison. Phyllurus pinnaclensis sp. nov. could only be confused with congeners with a cylindrical, tapering tail. Of these, it is readily distinguished from P. caudiannulatus Covacevich, 1975 and P. kabikabi Couper, Hamley & Hoskin, 2008 by a partially divided rostral scale (versus completely divided). From P. gulbaru, it is distinguished by a high internasal count (P. gulbaru mean 6.5, range 5���8; P. pinnaclensis sp. nov. mean 9.1, range 7���10); high subdigital lamellae count under the 4 th toe (P. gulbaru mean 17.9, range 16���19; P. pinnaclensis sp. nov. mean 20.0, range 19���21); longer original tail (P. gulbaru T/SVL mean 0.80, range 0.71���0.84; P. pinnaclensis sp. nov. T/SVL mean 0.90, range 0.88���0.91) and regenerated tail (P. gulbaru T/SVL mean 0.61, range 0.50���0.71; P. pinnaclensis sp. nov. T/SVL mean 0.73; range 0.73) (Table 1); and original tail largely devoid of prominent tubercles past the basal quarter (versus prominent tubercles on at least basal half in P. gulbaru). A relatively straightforward and near-diagnostic trait to assess in the field is the number of internasals, with> 90% of P. gulbaru individuals (N = 36) having P. pinnaclensis sp. nov. (N = 10) having> 8 (9���10; but one aberrant individual had 7). Genetics. Approximately 6.4% divergent from P. gulbaru for ND2 mtDNA (Fig. 1). Distribution. Appears to be restricted to The Pinnacles, 25 km south-west of Townsville (Fig. 1). Known from three areas of habitat on the western and southern Pinnacles (Fig. 1). Each of these small patches of habitat is isolated by unsuitable habitat that is too dry and/or not sufficiently rocky. Surveys of rainforest habitat in the northeastern Pinnacles (-19.397, 146.642) have failed to find P. pinnaclensis sp. nov.. This area has very high suitability in the SDM (dark green pixel in north-east Pinnacles in Figure 1) but the rock in this area is probably not sufficiently layered to have provided long-term climatic buffering. Potentially suitable rocky rainforest gullies in the south-eastern Pinnacles have not yet been surveyed. Habitat and habits. Layered rock with associated rainforest (���vine-forest���) vegetation. One site consists of piled, angular rock (Fig. 6A) associated with a gully, another site consists of piled, rounded, granite boulders along a gully (Fig. 6B), and the third site consists of deeply piled, granite boulders along a gully and adjacent slopes. At all sites, P. pinnaclensis sp. nov. was found on rock surfaces at night (Fig. 6B)., Published as part of Hoskin, Conrad J., Bertola, Lorenzo V. & Higgie, Megan, 2019, A new species of Phyllurus leaf-tailed gecko (Lacertilia: Carphodactylidae) from The Pinnacles, north-east Australia, pp. 127-139 in Zootaxa 4576 (1) on pages 130-132, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.1.6, http://zenodo.org/record/2624732, {"references":["Covacevich, J. (1975) A review of the genus Phyllurus (Lacertilia: Gekkonidae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 17, 293 - 303.","Couper, P. J., Hamley, B. & Hoskin C. J. (2008) A new species of Phyllurus (Lacertilia: Gekkonidae) from the Kilkivan district of south-eastern Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 52, 139 - 147."]}

Hoskin, Conrad J., Bertola, Lorenzo V., Higgie, Megan (2019): A new species of Phyllurus leaf-tailed gecko (Lacertilia: Carphodactylidae) from The Pinnacles, north-east Australia. Zootaxa 4576 (1): 127-139, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4576.1.6

Interactions within and between species have significant effects on fitness, which are likely to vary across species’ ranges. However, empirical tests of this are rare, particularly under naturally varying field conditions. We transplanted 19 656 flies of two Australian tropical rainforest fly species (Drosophila birchii and D. bunnanda) along an elevation gradient in 972 vials at different intraspecific and interspecific densities, to test for effects of abiotic and biotic environmental variation on fitness. We recorded the number of male and female offspring of each species produced after one generation in the field. Productivity (number of offspring per female) of both species declined rapidly with increasing intraspecific and interspecific density, and with elevation. The effect of density was much greater at the warm, low elevation site than at sites higher up the gradient. Surprisingly, increasing interspecific, but not intraspecific, density was also associated with the production of offspring with a strongly male-biased sex ratio in both D. birchii and D. bunnanda. By contrast, in vials where only one of the species was present, the mean sex ratio was equal or slightly female-biased. Comparison of productivity of mixed and single-species vials suggests that higher mortality of female larvae in interspecific competition can partially, but not completely, explain the observed sex ratio difference. There were also differences between the species in the effect of interspecific competition on sex ratio across the elevation gradient, with effects weakest at the site where each is most locally abundant (low for D. bunnanda and high for D. birchii). These results suggest that biotic interactions, both within and between species, are a critical factor shaping species’ distributions and their potential responses to environmental change.

Predicting how species will respond to the rapid climatic changes predicted this century is an urgent task. Species distribution models (SDMs) use the current relationship between environmental variation and species’ abundances to predict the effect of future environmental change on their distributions. However, two common assumptions of SDMs are likely to be violated in many cases: (i) that the relationship of environment with abundance or fitness is constant throughout a species’ range and will remain so in future and (ii) that abiotic factors (e.g. temperature, humidity) determine species’ distributions. We test these assumptions by relating field abundance of the rainforest fruit fly Drosophila birchii to ecological change across gradients that include its low and high altitudinal limits. We then test how such ecological variation affects the fitness of 35 D. birchii families transplanted in 591 cages to sites along two altitudinal gradients, to determine whether genetic variation in fitness responses could facilitate future adaptation to environmental change. Overall, field abundance was highest at cooler, high-altitude sites, and declined towards warmer, low-altitude sites. By contrast, cage fitness (productivity) increased towards warmer, lower-altitude sites, suggesting that biotic interactions (absent from cages) drive ecological limits at warmer margins. In addition, the relationship between environmental variation and abundance varied significantly among gradients, indicating divergence in ecological niche across the species’ range. However, there was no evidence for local adaptation within gradients, despite greater productivity of high-altitude than low-altitude populations when families were reared under laboratory conditions. Families also responded similarly to transplantation along gradients, providing no evidence for fitness trade-offs that would favour local adaptation. These findings highlight the importance of (i) measuring genetic variation in key traits under ecologically relevant conditions, and (ii) considering the effect of biotic interactions when predicting species’ responses to environmental change.

Oedura jowalbinna sp. nov. Figs 1 G and 3 Quinkan Velvet Gecko Material examined: Holotype: QMJ 85932, female, Pine Tree Ck, Jowalbinna Station, 34 km south-west of Laura, north-east Queensland (15 �� 45 ��� 30 ���S, 144 �� 12 ��� 15 ���E, elevation 250 m), C. J. Hoskin and M. Higgie, 23 November 2007. Paratype: QMJ 85933, male, collection details as for holotype. Additional material: Eight individuals were captured in the field. Morphological measurements, descriptions of colour pattern, and notes on breeding biology were recorded from seven of these individuals (Table 2), with one female escaping before morphological measurements were taken. Two of these individuals were collected (holotype and paratype), while the remaining six individuals were released due to uncertainty over the conservation status of the species. Diagnosis: Oedura jowalbinna sp. nov. is a robust, medium-sized (SVL 60���69 mm) velvet gecko that can only be confused with its congeners. Oedura jowalbinna sp. nov. has a unique dorsal colour pattern (Figs 1 G, 3 A���C). The dorsal surface of the body, head and limbs are pale pinkish grey with faint freckling, and the only distinct markings are two pale, dark-edged bands���one across the neck, the other across the base of the tail. The original tail is yellow with small dark spots. Etymology: jowalbinna is the name of the cattle station on which the species was discovered. The common name ��� Quinkan Gecko��� is used because the sandstone escarpments of the Laura region are commonly referred to as the Quinkan region. Quinkans are ancestral spirit people that inhabit the sandstone escarpments in the Laura region (Ang-Gnarra Aboriginal Corporation 1995) and are commonly depicted at rock art sites, including at the type locality. Measurements and scale counts of holotype: QMJ 85932 (female) SVL = 60.2 mm; T = 34.7 (original); HL = 15.3 mm; HW = 11.9 mm; HD = 5.2 mm; S = 6.4 mm; EE = 5.6 mm; NL = 14.5 mm; AG = 26.8 mm; L 1 = 18.9 mm; FL = 7.7 mm; L 2 = 24.1 mm; HLL = 9.7 mm; 21 interorbitals; 2 scales contacting dorsal edge of rostral; rostral groove 1 / 3 of rostral depth; 6 scales bordering nostril; 11 supralabials; 12 infralabials; 6 rows of enlarged postmental scales; 3 scales bordering posterior edge of mental; postcloacal tubercules 1 / 1; no preanal pores evident; lamellae 1 st toe = 6, 2nd toe = 6, 3rd toe = 7, 4th toe = 6, 5th toe = 6; lamellae 1 st finger = 6, 2nd finger = 6, 3rd finger = 6, 4th finger = 6, 5th finger = 6. Description of type series: Data presented as range followed by mean in brackets, n = 2. Measurements. SVL (mm): 60.2���61.6 (60.9); T = 34.7���36.8 (35.8); HL = 15.0��� 15.3 (15.1); HW = 11.5���11.9 (11.7); HD = 5.2���5.6 (5.4); S = 6.4���6.8 (6.6); EE = 5.6 ��� 5.6 (5.6); NL = 13.7���14.5 (14.1); AG = 26.8���27.6 (27.2); L 1 = 18.9���19.4 (19.1); FL = 7.6���7.7 (7.6); L 2 = 24.1���24.8 (24.5); HLL = 9.5���9.7 (9.6). Proportions as % SVL. T% = 57.6���59.8 (58.7); HL% = 24.3���25.4 (24.8); HW% = 18.6���19.7 (19.2); HD% = 8.6 ���9.0 (8.8); S% = 10.7 ���11.0 (10.8); EE% = 9.1���9.3 (9.2); NL% = 22.3���24.1 (23.2); AG% = 44.4���44.7 (44.6); L 1 % = 31.3���31.4 (31.4); FL% = 12.3���12.8 (12.5); L 2 = 40.0��� 40.3 (40.2); HLL % = 15.4���16.1 (15.7). Head. Narrow, elongate, moderately depressed, distinct from neck; head width 76.6���77.7 % (77.2 %) head length; head depth 43.8���48.5 % (46.1 %) head width; covered in small granules with slightly larger granules on the dorsal and lateral surfaces of the snout; 21 interorbital scales; rostral approximately twice as wide as deep, partially divided vertically by a medial groove (rostral groove 1 / 3 of rostral depth); rostral shield contacting nostril, bordered by 2 scales along its dorsal edge and the 1 st supralabial on each side; 6 scales bordering nasal opening; 11���12 (11.5) supralabials, 1 st supralabial narrower than 2 nd supralabial, 1 st supralabial taller than 2 nd; 12 infralabials; 7 rows of noticeably enlarged granules extending back from mental scale, decreasing in size towards small ventral scales; ear opening small and horizontally elongate. Body. Moderately robust, slightly depressed, slightly pear-shaped, covered in small granules; granules on ventral surface about the same size as those on dorsum; granules on lateral and dorsolateral surfaces arranged as transverse rows; 1 enlarged postcloacal tubercule behind the lower posterior margin of the thigh in both sexes (better defined in males). A medially broken row of 15 preanal pores (8 on left side, 7 on right side) present in mature male, extending to underside of thigh; preanal pores not evident in female. Limbs. Moderately short and stout; digits dorsoventrally compressed and expanded distally, each with an enlarged pair of apical lamellae followed by a transverse series of lamellae that are divided distally and single proximally; apical pair of lamellae discontinuous with other lamellae; hindlimb with 5���6 (5.5) enlarged lamellae (including apical pair) on 1 st toe, 6 on 2 nd toe, 7 on 3 rd toe, 6���7 (6.5) on 4 th toe and 6 on 5 th toe; basal webbing evident between digits 2, 3 and 4 of hindlimb, small between digits 2 and 3, and moderate between digits 3 and 4; forelimb with 6 enlarged lamellae (including apical pair) on 1 st finger, 5���6 on 2 nd finger, 6 on 3 rd finger, 6 on 4 th finger and 6 on 5 th finger. Original tail. Relatively short, tapered; scales arranged in concentric rings, about the same size on the dorsal and on ventral surfaces. Regenerated tail. Not known. Pattern in spirit (Fig. 1 G): Pattern of holotype and paratype very similar. Background colour of dorsal and lateral surfaces pale grey. Dorsal and lateral surfaces of back and limbs mottled/freckled with light brown markings; faint to absent along the vertebral zone. Top of head even grey. Distinct pale, dark-edged band across neck; pale band sweeps forward unbroken to the snout enclosing ear and running along lower jaw and supralabials; anterior dark edging passes through eye to snout. Distinct pale, dark-edged band across base of tail. Dorsal and lateral surfaces of tail grey with distinct, small, brown, evenly spaced dots. Lower ventral surfaces and ventral surfaces of body, head and limbs cream, except for grey belly and pinkish chin. Underside of hands and feet grey. Postanal tubercles white. Ventral surface of tail pale with faint, grey, irregular mottling. Measurements of live individuals: Table 2 summarises measurements from seven live individuals (including the holotype and paratype) in the field. The holotype and paratype showed 1.3 % and 3.8 % shrinkage, respectively, between SVL measurement alive and preserved. Pattern in life (Fig. 3): Pattern was highly consistent across all individuals (N = 8), varying only in brightness. Background colour of dorsal and lateral surfaces pale pinkish grey. Dorsal and lateral surfaces of back and limbs freckled with light brown markings, markings fade out to become absent towards the vertebral TABLE 2. Field measurements of female (N = 3) and male (N = 4) O. jowalbinna sp. nov. from the type locality on Jowalbinna Station. All individuals had original tails. zone. Freckling is very faint to almost completely absent in some individuals, such that they appear unmarked. Fingers pale. Top of head unmarked, even pinkish grey. Distinct pale, dark-edged band across neck, sweeping forward to the snout; anterior dark edge of band passes from snout, through eye and over nape; pale band becomes white from in front of ear, along jaw to snout. Distinct pale, dark-edged band across base of tail. Dorsal and lateral surfaces of tail yellow or golden with distinct or diffuse small brown dots or grey mottling. Lower ventral surfaces and ventral surfaces of body, head and limbs pale pinkish. Postanal tubercles and lamellae of hands and feet white. Ventral surface of tail creamy yellow, with or without diffuse grey mottling. Eye very dark brown to black. Comparison with other taxa: Colour pattern obviously differentiates Oedura jowalbinna sp. nov. from its congeners. The dorsal pattern of Oedura jowalbinna sp. nov., consisting of a distinct band across the neck and across the base of tail separated by a back lacking distinct patterning, differs from all other Oedura species. The other Oedura have heavily marked dorsal patterns of bands, spots, blotches or zigzags that are consistent along the length of the dorsum. Furthermore, the combination of grey body and yellow tail also distinguishes O. jowalbinna sp. nov. from its congeners. Some aspects of the external appearance of O. jowalbinna sp. nov. (e.g. pale colouration, weak pattern, relatively narrow head) show some similarities to other sandstone species of northern Australia. Oedura jowalbinna sp. nov. differs from these species by the characters above, and furthermore by lacking conspicuous lateral toe fringing (versus O. filicipoda), having more than three pairs of large, divided lamellae on the fourth toe (versus O. gracilis), being of smaller size (versus O. filicipoda, O. gracilis and O. gemmata), and by its robust form and lack of a long, slender tail (versus O. gracilis and O. obscura). Oedura jowalbinna sp. nov. co-occurs at the type locality with O. castelnaui and O. rhombifer. The dorsal pattern of O. castelnaui (Fig. 1 A), consisting of bold, crescent-shaped bands, differs obviously from that of O. jowalbinna sp. nov. (Fig. 1 G). Oedura castelnaui is also a considerably larger species (Table 1, Fig. 2). Oedura rhombifer differs from O. jowalbinna sp. nov. in being slender, having a long slender tail, having a continuous zigzag vertebral band, and in having minute dorsal scales that are noticeably smaller than the ventrals. Although not recorded at the type locality, O. coggeri and O. monilis also occur in north-east Queensland. Oedura coggeri has been collected from south of the Laura sandstones, in the Palmer River region (16 ��09���S, 144 ��08���E), approximately 38 km south-west of the type locality of O. jowalbinna sp. nov. The closest specimens of O. monilis were collected from Forty Mile Scrub National Park (18 ��08���S, 144 �� 49 ���E), approximately 270 km south of the type locality of O. jowalbinna sp. nov. (Queensland Museum data). Oedura coggeri (Fig. 1 C���F) and O. monilis (Fig. 1 B) both have heavily marked dorsal surfaces that vary from being spotted to banded and do not resemble the distinctive dorsal pattern of O. jowalbinna sp. nov. (Fig. 1 G). These two species are also generally larger than O. jowalbinna sp. nov. (Table 1, Fig. 2). Oedura jowalbinna sp. nov. shows greatest similarity in body size, body shape and scalation to O. coggeri and O. monilis. However, O. jowalbinna sp. nov. clearly differs from these two species in multivariate analyses of morphology and scalation due to its generally smaller size and combination of higher interorbital, infralabial and supralabial scale counts, and lower total subdigital lamellae scale count (Fig. 2, Table 1). Considered individually, some of these traits are non-overlapping (Table 1), however, more individuals of O. jowalbinna sp. nov. need to be assessed to determine the full range of variation in these traits. Distribution: Only known from the type locality, heavily dissected sandstone escarpment in the headwaters of Pine Tree Creek, Jowalbinna station, 34 km south-west of the town of Laura, north-east Queensland (Fig. 4). All individuals were found within approximately 300 m of each other. The type locality is part of the Dalrymple sandstones of the Battle Camp Formation (���Laura sandstones���), an extensive area of sandstone escarpments extending from Bathurst Bay to south-west of Laura (De Keyser & Lucas 1968). The habitat occupied at the type locality appears similar to that seen in other areas of the Laura sandstones and therefore O. jowalbinna sp. nov. may be more widely distributed. We did not find the species during a gecko survey of the sandstone escarpment in the headwaters of Brady Creek (10 km south-east of the type locality) two days prior to the discovery of the species. Further, this species was not found on previous gecko surveys by us and others on sandstone outcrops south-east of the town of Laura (~ 35 km north-east of the type locality). However, these surveys represent limited survey effort given the extent of the sandstone escarpments in the Laura region. Habitat and habits: Oedura jowalbinna sp. nov. appears to be a rock-restricted species. All eight individuals were found at night on the underside of rock overhangs along the base of a linked series of 5���15 m high sandstone walls (Fig. 5). Individuals were generally found along east facing walls. No individuals were found on exposed rock surfaces, on trees amongst the rocks, or in the surrounding open eucalypt woodland. Sandstone at the type locality is heavily weathered, with deep cracks and holes, and large overhangs. Sandstone in the overhangs is pale sandy yellow or orange in colour, while that on the exposed surfaces is dark grey. Individuals were found between 19: 30 ��� 23: 30 on the 22 and 23 November 2007. Conditions were warm and humid (air temperature approximately 28 ��C) and there were localised storms in the area. Four males and four females were found. All were adult and appeared to have original tails. There was no detectable difference between males and females in terms of body size, body shape or colour pattern. Three of the four females were gravid, each carrying two large white eggs visible through the skin on the ventral surface. Some individuals made a thin, high pitched ���peep��� when being handled and some made a soft growl when held in cloth bags. Small crickets were common on the underside of the overhangs and may represent a significant component of the arthropod prey. Other geckos found occupying the rock habitat at the type locality were Cyrtodactylus louisiadensis De Vis 1892, Gehyra dubia Macleay 1877, and Oedura rhombifer. The surrounding forest was open eucalypt woodland, some of which had been burnt in the last couple of years. Geckos found in the eucalypt woodland were Oedura castelnaui, Gehyra dubia and Heteronotia binoei Gray 1845. Conservation: Oedura jowalbinna sp. nov. is only known from one site, where it is moderately common. No threats to the survival of this species at the type locality were apparent. Further surveys across the Laura sandstones are required to determine the distribution and abundance of O. jowalbinna sp. nov., Published as part of Hoskin, Conrad J. & Higgie, Megan, 2008, A new species of velvet gecko (Diplodactylidae: Oedura) from north-east Queensland, Australia, pp. 21-36 in Zootaxa 1788 on pages 25-33, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.182512, {"references":["De Keyser, F. & Lucas, K. G. (1968) Geology of the Hodgkinson and Laura Basins, north Queensland. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Australia, Bulletin 84, 254 pp.","De Vis, C. W. (1892) Zoology of British New Guinea. Part 1. Vertebrata. Annals of the Queensland Museum, 2, 1 - 24.","Macleay, W. (1877) The lizards of the \" Chevert \" Expedition. 2 nd paper. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 2, 97 - 104.","Gray, J. E. (1845) Catalogue of the specimens of lizards in the collection of the British Museum. Trustees of the British Museum / Edward Newman, London, 289 pp."]}