reptile

Fruit is an important component in the diet of many lizards, but their role as seed dispersers is often overlooked. Seed retention time and animal movement determine how far a fleshy fruited seed will be dispersed from the parent plant. Seed retention times were investigated in 78 captive Hoplodactylus duvaucelii (Duvaucel’s geckos). Geckos were offered fruits from 10 plant species. Fifty-one geckos consumed fruits and the mean seed retention time was 69 hours (range 31 to 145 hours).

Nest characteristics and nest-site choice determine fitness outcomes for reptile embryos and resulting hatchlings. Little is known about the nesting of Oligosoma suteri, New Zealand’s only egg-laying lizard. We investigated the physical and thermal environment of nests and available microhabitats, including nest-like sites, with the aim of applying this information to future search efforts and translocation plans. Nests of O.

New Zealand’s mountainous environments support unique flora and fauna specially adapted to the extreme cold and harsh conditions of the alpine zone. The orange-spotted gecko (Mokopirirakau “Roys Peak”) is a rare undescribed gecko that is currently known only from the alpine zone of Otago. The species was discovered in 1998 and is only known from the Central Otago and Queenstown-Lakes districts, with populations spanning a ~3000 km2 area.

Recently introduced mammalian predators have had devastating consequences for biotas of archipelagos that were isolated from mammals over evolutionary time. However, understanding which antipredator mechanisms are lost through relaxed selection, and how they influence the ability of prey to respond to novel predatory threats, is limited. The varying effects on native lizard populations of the relatively recent and patchy history of mammalian introductions to New Zealand’s islands provide an opportunity to examine the consequences of relaxed selection.

Invasive species can have negative consequences on native reptile populations, especially on island systems. Chemical control can be a cost-effective way to control or eradicate invasive species. Chemical control is currently in use in New Zealand to limit impacts of non-native mammals and plants on a range of native biodiversity. However, it is important to consider the potential non-target risks of chemical control to native species that are likely already significantly reduced in number.

Animal reintroduction is an important tool for species conservation, but success rates can be low. Comparative studies can be used to identify factors that influence success during translocations. We studied the reintroduction of captive-reared and wild-caught juveniles of an iconic reptile, the tuatara Sphenodon punctatus, on the South Island of New Zealand. We followed juveniles from three treatment groups (wild-caught and from two outdoor head-start facilities, all of the same genetic stock) during the initial five months of the establishment phase.

Anticoagulant poisons, especially the second-generation anticoagulant brodifacoum, are used worldwide to eradicate pest mammals from high priority nature sites. However, the potency and persistence of brodifacoum may present threats to non-target species. In New Zealand, most ecosystems lack native terrestrial mammals; instead, birds, reptiles and invertebrates fulfil key ecosystem roles. Introduced mammals represent the biggest threat to persistence of native species.

Understanding the factors that influence patterns of ectoparasite infestation within wildlife populations involves knowledge of the mechanisms that influence host infestation. For ectoparasitic ticks, knowing where ticks might occur in the off-host environment and how they locate their hosts is essential to understanding patterns of ectoparasite infestation. The tuatara tick (Amblyomma sphenodonti) parasitises the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) on Stephens Island, New Zealand.