Eulamprus heatwolei
Yellow-bellied Water Skink at Paddys River, ACT
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| Eulamprus heatwolei | WillO | 5 Jan 2018 | |
| Eulamprus tympanum | Deanoe | 5 Jan 2018 |
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User's notes
Saw at least seven individuals at various spots around the Tidbinbilla Wetlands. A volunteer said he believed they were Southern Water Skinks which are apparently very common there.
5 comments
8 Jan 2018
I will draft a few points that should help. However these two species (tympanum and heatwolei) are very difficult to separate - it took me a few years of field work down at Kosciusko to get it sorted. Back then they were known as warm temperate and cool temperate forms of the same species. Even now if i don't do some practice with my binoculars (or specimens in hand) I find them hard to tell apart. Leave it with me and i will post a comment on identifying them in the next day or so. Others might like to add their suggestions as well. Fortunately the two species very rarely occur at the same site and that helps. For example at Coree Flats heatwolei occurs throughout the woodland and forest and tympanum occurs only out in the open wet tussock grassland - wet heathland areas on the "flats" . However at the edge of the "bog" I have seen the two species within a few metres of each other. WillO
8 Jan 2018
Will, this would be good. I have tried to distinguish them by reading whatever literature I was able to find - you will find this in the descriptions. It would be good if you can think about this before coming up with something new. Geoff
8 Jan 2018
Many thanks for this. Until recently I didn’t realise that there was more than one species of water skink.
Location information
- Coordinates 148.906690-35.464026
- Maps Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve
- Places Paddys River, ACT
Sighting information
- 7 Abundance
- 3 Jan 2018 12:33 PM Recorded on
- Deanoe Recorded by
Collections
Species information
- Eulamprus heatwolei Scientific name
- Yellow-bellied Water Skink Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 1619.1m Recorded at altitude
Record quality
Quality score
5 / 7
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