Frogs and reptiles of the Murray-Darling Basin : a guide to their identification, ecology and conservation

This book is the first comprehensive guide to the 310 species of frogs and reptiles living in the Murray–Darling Basin. An overview of each of the 22 catchment areas introduces the unique and varied climates, topography, vegetation and fauna. Comprehensive species accounts include diagnostic features, conservation ratings, photographs and distribution maps for all frogs, freshwater turtles, lizards and snakes recorded in this important region. The Murray - Darling Basin spans more than 1 million square kilometres across most of New South Wales, Northern Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, the lower third of Queensland and the south-eastern corner of South Australia. Wildlife habits range from the floodplains of the Basin to the headwaters of inland flowing rivers and alpine regions home to the critically endangered corroboree frogs, making the region of special ecological and environmental interest. This book is the first comprehensive guide to the 310 species of frogs and reptiles living in the Murray - Darling Basin. An overview of each of the 22 catchment areas introduces the unique and varied climates, topography, vegetation and fauna. Comprehensive species accounts include diagnostic features, conservation ratings, photographs and distribution maps for all frogs, freshwater turtles, lizards and snakes recorded in the Murray - Darling Basin Cover Title Copyright Contents Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Frogs Foam-nesting ground frogs (Family Limnodynastidae) Ground frogs (Family Myobatrachidae) Tree frogs (Family Pelodryadidae) True toads (Family Bufonidae) Freshwater turtles Side-necked Freshwater Turtles (Family Chelidae) Lizards Southern padless geckos (Family Carphodactylidae) Diplodactylid geckos (Family Diplodactylidae) Cosmopolitan geckos (Family Gekkonidae) Flap-footed lizards (Family Pygopodidae) Skinks (Family Scincidae) Dragons (Family Agamidae) Monitor lizards/goannas (Family Varanidae) Snakes Blind snakes (Family Typhlopidae) Pythons (Family Pythonidae) Colubrid snakes (Family Colubridae) Venomous land snakes (Family Elapidae) Species checklist Glossary References Index of common names Index of scientific names