LIFE IN 2 DIMENSIONS - NATURAL-HISTORY OF THE SOUTHERN LEAF-TAILED GECKO, PHYLLURUS-PLATURUS

Southern leaf-tailed geckos are large (to 100 mm snout-vent length: SV L) nocturnal saxicolous lizards endemic to the Sydney Basin in southea stern Australia. We dissected 176 preserved museum specimens to docume nt morphology, food habits, and reproductive biology. Hatchlings are l arge (33-41 mm SVL) relative to maternal body size. Females mature at larger sizes than do males (77 versus 70 mm SVL) and attain larger mea n and maximum adult sizes. Abdomens of adult female P. platurus (espec ially gravid females) are thicker than those of males and may limit ac cess of gravid females to narrow crevices. Females also have longer ab domens relative to SVL than do conspecific males, perhaps as an adapta tion to accommodate the clutch. Adult males have enlarged testes throu ghout the year, but female reproductive cycles are highly seasonal wit h vitellogenesis and ovulation in spring and oviposition in summer. So me females may produce more than one dutch (of two eggs) per year. Gec kos of all size classes consume a variety of invertebrate prey, especi ally large nocturnally active insects (e.g., spiders, chilopods, cockr oaches, and beetles), and feeding continues in all seasons.