Bottled Up (part I)

In my previous existence as an ecological field researcher for a state government agency late last century, I chanced one night upon a wee leaf-tail gecko attempting to flee from my colleagues and I, to relative safety in a crevice among the shattered rocks of its hilltop forest home.  Unfortunately for it, throwing its tail did nothing to prevent my capturing it (gently of course!) in order to identify it for the purposes of our field work.

Identification using a diagnostic key confirmed our initial suspicions that it belonged in the genus Phyllurus.The distribution map accompanying the entry for P. caudiannulatus also told us that, if our tentative ID was correct, this little lizard was hundreds of miles away from any known populations of its conspecifics (a techo term meaning others of its species).  We all debated the possibilities and eventually came to the conclusion that the find represented either an extension of the known geographic range of P. caudiannulatus, or a potential new species!  Either way, it would have to be taken back to town for the specialists to look at.

This was pretty exciting for us, but very bad news for the gecko.

Not because of the trip so much: at the time, transport for a live specimen such as this meant a trip in a soft cloth bag inside a modified esky, in the back seat of the work Landcruiser.  It would have been cool and dark and aside from the unfamiliarity of its surroundings, the smells etc., the lizard would not have been particularly uncomfortable.  We were aware, however, that in all likelihood we were taking this beautiful little creature to its death.

to be continued...