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Tiliqua Rugosa) Is a Large Omnivorous Tskink That Is Commentaryendemic to Southern Australia (Cogger 2014)

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Tiliqua Rugosa) Is a Large Omnivorous Tskink That Is Commentaryendemic to Southern Australia (Cogger 2014) WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSIRCF REPTILES • VOL15, &NO AMPHIBIANS 4 • DEC 2008 189 • 26(1):54–55 • APR 2019 IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY TABLE OF CONTENTS FEATURE ARTICLES Two. Chasing Bullsnakes Instances (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: in South Australia of On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer 190 Sleepy. The Shared Lizards, History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensisTiliqua) and Humans on Grenada:rugosa (Gray 1825), A Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................Robert W. Henderson 198 FeedingRESEARCH ARTICLES on Plant Species not Previously . The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ....................... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 . The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida Recorded ............................................. asBrian J. Camposano,Part Kenneth L.of Krysko, Kevinthis M. Enge, Ellen Lizard’s M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky Diet 212 CONSERVATIONGerrut ALERT Norval1, Robert D. Sharrad1, and Michael G. Gardner1,2 . World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220 1 College of Science .andMore Engineering, Than Mammals Flinders ............................................................................................................................... University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia ([email protected],....................................... robert [email protected])223 2Evolutionary Biology. The “Dow Unit, Jones South Index” Australian of Biodiversity Museum, ............................................................................................................................... North Terrace Adelaide 5000, South Australia, Australia (michael.gardner@fl............ 225 inders.edu.au) HUSBANDRY Photographs by the senior author. Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226 PROFILE . Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234 he Sleepy Lizard (Tiliqua rugosa) is a large omnivorous Tskink that is COMMENTARYendemic to southern Australia (Cogger 2014). These lizards. Theusually Turtles Have feed Been onWatching the Me leaves, ........................................................................................................................ flowers, Eric Gangloff 238 and/or fruit of a varietyBOOK ofREVIEW plants and will also opportunis- tically feed on invertebrates,. Threatened Amphibianssmall vertebrates, of the World edited and by S.N.carrion Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, (Yeatman 1988; Henle 1990;R. Berridge, Dubas P. Ramani, and and B.E.Bull Young 1991). .............................................................................................................. Herein Robert Powell 243 we describe two instances CONSERVATION of adult RESEARCHSleepy Lizards REPORTS: feeding Summaries on of Published Conservation Research Reports ................................. 245 plants not previously NATURAL recorded HISTORY as part RESEARCHof their diet. REPORTS: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ................................. 247 NEWBRIEFS ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 248 At 0945 h on 9EDITORIAL December INFORMATION 2018, the ............................................................................................................................... senior author ...................... 251 observed a Sleepy LizardFOCUS ONon CONSERVATIONSalford Road,: Aa Project dirt Youroad Can Supportin ............................................................................................... 252 the Mid North Region of South Australia (33°58’05’’S, 139°13’23’’E; 213 m asl; datum: WGS84). The lizard was next to a Wild Oat (Avena fatua) growing in the road and Fig. 1. A Sleepy Lizard (Tiliqua rugosa) found on 9 December 2018 eating when the lizard gaped as a threat display,Front Cover. the Shannon inflorescence Plummer. the inflorescenceBack Cover. Michael of a Wild Kern Oat (Avena fatua). Totat et velleseque audant mo Totat et velleseque audant mo estibus inveliquo velique rerchil estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque fugiatis maionsequat eumque moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia- ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as accullabo. Fig. 2. A Sleepy Lizard (Tiliqua rugosa) found on the roadside on 23 December 2018 surrounded by Wild Sage (Salvia verbenaca), which is occasionally eaten by these lizards. Copyright © 2019. Gerrut Norval. All rights reserved. 54 IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians ISSN 1098-6324 NORVAL ET AL. IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 26(1):54–55 • APR 2019 and leaves of the grass were observed inside its mouth (Fig. 1). signs of recent and past foraging in the vicinity of where the At 1115 h on 23 December 2018, the senior author noticed lizard was caught (Fig. 4). another T. rugosa on the roadside (Fig. 2) of the same dirt To the best of our knowledge, neither A. fatua or O. road but at a different locality (33°54’47’’S, 139°18’35’’E; acaulon have previously been recorded as part of the diet of T. 161 m asl; datum: WGS84). While being handled, this lizard rugosa. At the time of our observations, South Australia was also gaped, and it had fragments of the leaves of Wards Weed experiencing a drought and plant species such as C. annua, (Carrichtera annua) and Stemless Thistle (Onopordum acau- which is commonly eaten by T. rugosa, were either absent lon) in its mouth (Fig. 3). The senior author also observed or had stunted growth. Consequently, the lizards likely were feeding on plants that they would not usually eat due to a shortage of their preferred food. Our observations contribute to the list of species that are utilized as food. They also illus- trate the importance of continued monitoring. For an omniv- orous opportunistic species such as the Sleepy Lizard, observa- tions throughout its range, in different seasons, and among seasons under different climatic conditions are required to have a thorough understanding of what plant species Sleepy Lizards exploit for food. Acknowledgements The observations above were made by the senior author while conducting field work as part of his doctoral research, Fig. 3. Part of a Stemless Thistle (Onopordum acaulon) leaf is still pro- which was partly funded in 2018 by grants from Friends of truding from the mouth of a Sleepy Lizard (Tiliqua rugosa) caught on 23 December 2018. Private Bushland and the Royal Society of South Australia to Gerrut Norval. Clearance for the research were granted by the Animal Welfare Committee of Flinders University (No. E454/17) and the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources of the Government of South Australia (Permit No. A23436-26). Literature Cited Cogger, H.G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. 7 ed. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria, Australia. Dubas, G. and C.M. Bull. 1991. Diet choice and food availability in the omnivo- rous lizard, Trachydosaurus rugosus. Wildlife Research 18: 147–155. Fig. 4. Stemless Thistle (Onopordum acaulon) seedlings eaten by a Sleepy Henle, K. 1990. Notes on the population ecology of the large herbivorous lizard, Lizard (Tiliqua rugosa) caught on 23 December 2018. The yellow arrows Trachydosaurus rugosus, in arid Australia. Journal of Herpetology 24: 100–103. indicate fresh leaf damage where the lizard bit off parts of the leaves. Yeatman, E.M. 1988. Resource partitioning by three congeneric species of skink The red arrow indicates old damage to a leaf, likely caused by a lizard on (Tiliqua) in sympatry in South Australia. Unpublished Thesis, Flinders another day. University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. 55.
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