Specialist herpetofauna expertise

Between the 7th and the 18th of June, David Paull, ecobiological’s consulting herpetologist and mammalogist, undertook a biodiversity survey on Queensland’s Gulf coast which targeted sub-coastal wetlands.

  The work was undertaken on Aboriginal land and in conjunction with the local traditional owners and rangers as part of federally-funded wetland management project.

This part of Queensland has had little prior biodiversity assessment, and the information gained will form part of a valuable baseline of data for the local community so that further monitoring can occur.

16 species of frogs and 24 species of reptiles were identified, including several significant range extensions for some species and one skink still awaiting specific clarification in the Queensland Museum.  A coral snake, Antairoserpens warro had not been detected in the gulf country for over 20 years.  In addition, surveying was undertaken for mammals, one species caught, the Long-tailed Planigale weighing only 4 grams, is the smallest marsupial in Australia.

David has 20 years of field experience with the survey of frogs, reptiles and mammals in Queensland and New South Wales, with particular emphasis in the drier western regions of these states and the north/central coastal areas of New South Wales.  Current research and publishing interests include the ecology of a threatened rodent, the Pilliga Mouse, the physiology of the Common Dunnart and the ecological requirements of reptiles and hollow using mammals on the north-west slopes of New South Wales.