Modelling strategies for the management of the critically endangered Carpentarian rock-rat (Zyzomys palatalis) of northern Australia.

The Carpentarian rock-rat (Zyzomys palatalis) is a critically endangered endemic rodent known from only four sandstone gorges in the southeast Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern Territory, Australia. These gorges harbour thickets of monsoon rainforest and broadleaf woodland, surrounded by a Eucalypt savanna matrix. The long-term persistence of Z.

Physiological ecology of frillneck lizards in a seasonal tropical environment.

The frillneck lizard, Chlamydosaurus kingii, is a conspicuous component of the fauna of the wetdry tropics of northern Australia during the wet season, but it is rarely seen in the dry season. Previous studies have demonstrated that during the dry season the field metabolic rate (FMR) is only about one-quarter of the wet-season rate, and one factor involved in this seasonal drop is a change in the behavioural thermoregulation of the species such that lower body temperatures (T s) are selected during dry-season days. Here we examine other factors that could be responsible for the seasonal change in FMR: standard metabolic rates (SMR) and activity.

Diet and habitat use of frillneck lizards in a seasonal tropical environment.

A population of frillneck lizards, Chlamydosaurus kingii, was monitored by mark-recapture and telemetry over a 2 year period in Kakadu National Park. The aims of the study were to document changes in diet, growth, condition and habitat use between the wet and dry seasons of northern Australia, in light of recent research examining seasonal variation in the physiology of this species. Frillneck lizards feed on a diverse range of invertebrates in both seasons, even though there is a substantial reduction in food avail-ability in the dry season.