The eastern beaked gecko (''Rhynchoedura ormsbyi'') is a

gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from . Geckos ar ...

endemic to arid zones of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Taxonomy

The species was described by Richard W. Wells and Cliff R. Wellington in 1985 as ''Rhynchoedura ormsbyi''.

Rhynchoedura ''Rhynchoedura'' is a genus of lizards in the family Diplodactylidae. It includes six species, commonly known as beaked geckos, all of which are endemic to the arid zone of the Australian outback. Members of the genus are terrestrial and nocturna ...

is an assemblage of desert Gekkonids, with ''R. ormsbyi'' being distinguished from Rhynchoedura ornata with a combination of traits, especially with the shape of the snout, composition of the scales, and the arrangement of the pre-anal pores. The first description of the species was described by

Albert Günther Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther FRS, also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther (3 October 1830 – 1 February 1914), was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. Günther is ranked the second-most productive re ...

as ''Rhynchoedura ornata'' in 1867, where the current species of ''R. ornata'' and ''R. ormsbyi'' were not differentiated. The species was redescribed by Richard W. Wells and Cliff R. Wellington as ''R. ormsbyi'' in 1985, then was resurrected by Mitzy Pepper as ''R. ormsbyi'' in 2011.

Etymology

The species name ''ormsbyi'' was named after Anthony Ormsby, the Australian herpetologist from Springwood, New South Wales.

Description

The eastern beaked gecko is a desert Gekkonid. The snout-vent length is up to 50 mm, with the snout having a beak-like shape formed by a protruding rostral and a large mental scale. The species has a slender tail and slender, clawed digits. The skin is covered by tubercle, granule, and intergranule scales. These scales are covered in long spinules surrounded by struts and pits. The dorsal pattern varies in composition of the a light vertebral patches with wavy edges on a dark ground colour. The dorsal side of the head contains pale white to off-white spots with brown edges. The species can be distinguished from ''R. ornata'' genetically and by the strong medial groove on the rostra that can extend between 50-100% of the mental scale on the snout. A distinguishing trait from ''R. sexapora'', and ''R. mentalis'' are the two large elongated pre-anal pores, and the individual enlarged scales forming the cloacal spurs.

Ecology and Behaviour

The species lives in arid areas with xeric moisture regimes and is ubiquitous to most terrestrial habitat in the range, but most commonly in areas of sparse vegetation. The habitat is in the low-lying eastern arid zone where they are prominent in the alluvial floodplains and

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

and mulga woodlands. The species has a specialised diet exclusively made up of

termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattode ...

s which is efficient as the termites occur in colonies, being a concentrated food supply with little energy use once the colonies are located. The species is

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

, most active between sunset and midnight. Diurnal retreats are underground in holes such as spider holes. The skin has high

hydrophobic In chemistry, hydrophobicity is the physical property of a molecule that is seemingly repelled from a mass of water (known as a hydrophobe). In contrast, hydrophiles are attracted to water. Hydrophobic molecules tend to be nonpolar and, th ...

properties as a trait of the small scales and long

spinule Spinules are small spines or thorns (vertebral columns) that are part of biological and manmade structures. The word originates from the Latin word and is often used in botany and zoology. The presence or absence of spinules, and their shape, can ...

s.This maintains the cleanliness of the skin from dirt, debris, and harmful

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...

. Reproduction is via an oviparous with a clutch size of two eggs. The species is predated on largely by reptiles and owls. The tail of the species is able to detach if it is attacked to escape predation.

Evolutionary Relationships

Species of the genus

are genetically and morphologically differentiated as species populations have been spatially divided and thus have diverged in allopatry speciation. This division is from barriers caused by aridification and drainage divisions and rivers, especially in periods of high rainfall. The

species division basins are; ''R. ormsbyi'' (Throughout the Murray-Darling drainages), ''R. eyrensis'' (Lake Eyre Basin), ''R. augusta'' (Narrow distribution between Lake Eyre and the Murray-Darling drainages), ''R. ornata'' (Western Plateau), and ''R.sexapora'' (Kimberley).

Distribution

The eastern beaked gecko is endemic to arid areas in New South Wales and Queensland. The range is throughout the Mulga Lands and Cobar Peneplain Bioregions, the NSW area of the Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields Bioregion, and covers north up to the northern Murray-Darling Basin.

Conservation status

The conservation status of the species is

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

(

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

) as of 2017. There is limited loss of habitat largely due to agricultural practices, especially from

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

crops; however, these are not expected to cause significant decline. The population trend is stable, although there is a decline of mature individuals. Populations are severely fragmented and have extreme fluctuations in area occupied.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3429847 Rhynchoedura Reptiles described in 1985 Taxa named by Richard Walter Wells Taxa named by Cliff Ross Wellington Geckos of Australia