New Zealand Lizards

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvi

   PDF

2. Synthesising Our Current Knowledge of New Zealand Lizards

   • David G. Chapple

   Pages 1-11

3. History of Discovery of the New Zealand Lizard Fauna

   • Glenn M. Shea

   Pages 13-63

4. A Review of the Fossil Record of New Zealand Lizards

   • Trevor H. Worthy

   Pages 65-86

5. Putting a Name to Diversity: Taxonomy of the New Zealand Lizard Fauna

   • Rodney A. Hitchmough, Geoffrey B. Patterson, David G. Chapple

   Pages 87-108

6. Biogeography of New Zealand Lizards

   • David G. Chapple, Rodney A. Hitchmough

   Pages 109-131

7. The Ecology of New Zealand’s Lizards

   • Kelly M. Hare, David G. Chapple, David R. Towns, Dylan van Winkel

   Pages 133-168

8. Reproduction and Life History of New Zealand Lizards

   • Alison Cree, Kelly M. Hare

   Pages 169-206

9. Diseases of New Zealand Reptiles

   • Brett Gartrell

   Pages 207-238

10. Thermal and Metabolic Physiology of New Zealand Lizards

    • Kelly M. Hare, Alison Cree

    Pages 239-267

11. Sampling Techniques for New Zealand Lizards

    • Marieke Lettink, Kelly M. Hare

    Pages 269-291

12. Conservation of New Zealand Lizards: A Fauna Not Forgotten but Undervalued?

    • David R. Towns, Rodney A. Hitchmough, John Perrott

    Pages 293-320

13. Lizard Conservation in Mainland Sanctuaries

    • Nicola J. Nelson, Richard L. Romijn, Terra Dumont, James T. Reardon, Joanne M. Monks, Rodney A. Hitchmough et al.

    Pages 321-339

14. Origin, Spread and Biology of the Invasive Plague Skink (Lampropholis delicata) in New Zealand

    • David G. Chapple, James T. Reardon, Joanne E. Peace

    Pages 341-359

15. The Future of New Zealand Lizard Research

    • David G. Chapple

    Pages 361-375

This edited volume is a timely and comprehensive summary of the New Zealand lizard fauna. Nestled in the south-west Pacific, New Zealand is a large archipelago that displays the faunal signatures of both its Gondwanan origins, and more recent oceanic island influences. New Zealand was one of the last countries on Earth to be discovered, and likewise, the full extent of the faunal diversity present within the archipelago is only just starting to be appreciated. This is no better exemplified than in lizards, where just 30 species (20 skinks, 10 geckos) were recognized in the 1950s, but now 104 are formally or informally recognized (61 skinks, 43 geckos). Thus, New Zealand contains one of the most diverse lizard faunas of any cool, temperate region on Earth. This book brings together the world’s leading experts in the field to produce an authoritative overview of the history, taxonomy, biogeography, ecology, life-history, physiology and conservation of New Zealand lizards.

• Fossil record of New Zealand lizards
• Lizard behaviour
• Lizard conservation
• New Zealand lizard taxonomy
• Reptile biogeography
• rainbow skink
• biogeography
• conservation
• Diplodactylidae
• ecology
• gecko
• life history
• lizard
• physiology
• plague skink
• reproduction
• Scincidae
• skink
• taxonomy

“In this comprehensive and authoritative volume, David Chapple and co-authors have compiled a fascinating overview of the New Zealand lizards. … the book excels and will provide a notable point of reference for both current and future reptile researchers. … this book would provide a useful additional resource for university taught courses in fields such as ecology, evolution and conservation. … I would definitely recommend the book in its entirety … .” (Oliver J. S. Tallowin, Frontiers of Biogeography, Vol. 9 (1), 2017)

• School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Australia

  David G. Chapple

Dr David Chapple is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at Monash University, Australia. He completed his PhD at the Australian National University on the evolutionary ecology and molecular phylogenetics of Liopholis skinks. Dr Chapple then moved to Victoria University of Wellington to complete an Allan Wilson Centre postdoctoral fellowship on the origin, evolution and biogeography of New Zealand lizards. He returned to Australia to take up an Australian Research Council postdoctoral fellowship at Museum Victoria on the invasion dynamics of the delicate skink; a research program that continues to this day. Dr Chapple has been an Associate Editor of both Conservation Genetics and the Journal of Herpetology, and is currently a guest editor for a special issue of Biological Conservation on reptile conservation. He is an expert assessor for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for New Zealand skinks, and has provided expert advice to a range of government and conservation agencies, including the Lord Howe Island Board, Zoos Victoria, and the New Zealand Department of Conservation. Dr Chapple’s research group investigates the evolutionary ecology of environmental change, using squamate reptiles as model systems in which to examine ecological and evolutionary processes.

Policies and ethics