melanocephalum
Avid Member
As many of you may know, I am an avid filed herper from South Africa, the last few years my main objective has been to find and photograph Bradypodion across South Africa.
Currently, there are 17 described species in South Africa (with only two species not being endemic to the region)
With the addition of my day job finding the necessary days to travel +2000kms is not that easy, I'd had this tripped planned on the cards for a while with two public holidays in close succession I was able to take 6 days away from work to target the Bradypodion taeniabronchum.
Now Bradypodion taeniabronchum has a total habitat range of only 5 850km2 oh which only 400kms2 is thought to have suitable habitat for this chameleon to exist in.
Finding a needle in a haystack may actually be easier than finding this single specimen.
My trip plan:
I spent a lot of time looking at this view:
Blazing sun:
Flash rain storms:
Some mornings were better than others:
Some were like this:
I stopped in Grahamstown for a few days and found some Bradypodion the town is rather abundant with Bradypodion ventrale - Eastern Cape Dwarf Chameleon.
Adult female:
Adult Male:
Juvenile:
After a successful few days field herping in Grahamstown we set off to Port Elizabeth!
Habitat of Bradypodion taeniabronchum, near Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape.
Habitat:
We patiently waited for night fall, not to waste time found one of these
Acontias orientalis - Eastern Cape Legless Skinks
After a few hours of searching in near gale force winds we were ready to call it a night and chalk this Bradypodion search off as a loss and the 2000kms travelled would have been in vain...untill we spotted this:
Bradypodion taeniabronchum
Bradypodion taeniabronchum - Note the rich coloration of the gular creases. -
Bradypodion taeniabronchum
Bradypodion taeniabronchum
For size comparison:
Thanks for looking and I hoped you enjoyed the little insight into this journey of finding Bradypodion taeniabronchum
My current updated Bradypodion list:
More images over at: http://www.tyroneping.co.za/
Currently, there are 17 described species in South Africa (with only two species not being endemic to the region)
With the addition of my day job finding the necessary days to travel +2000kms is not that easy, I'd had this tripped planned on the cards for a while with two public holidays in close succession I was able to take 6 days away from work to target the Bradypodion taeniabronchum.
Now Bradypodion taeniabronchum has a total habitat range of only 5 850km2 oh which only 400kms2 is thought to have suitable habitat for this chameleon to exist in.
Finding a needle in a haystack may actually be easier than finding this single specimen.
My trip plan:
I spent a lot of time looking at this view:
Blazing sun:
Flash rain storms:
Some mornings were better than others:
Some were like this:
I stopped in Grahamstown for a few days and found some Bradypodion the town is rather abundant with Bradypodion ventrale - Eastern Cape Dwarf Chameleon.
Adult female:
Adult Male:
Juvenile:
After a successful few days field herping in Grahamstown we set off to Port Elizabeth!
Habitat of Bradypodion taeniabronchum, near Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape.
Habitat:
We patiently waited for night fall, not to waste time found one of these
Acontias orientalis - Eastern Cape Legless Skinks
After a few hours of searching in near gale force winds we were ready to call it a night and chalk this Bradypodion search off as a loss and the 2000kms travelled would have been in vain...untill we spotted this:
Bradypodion taeniabronchum
Bradypodion taeniabronchum - Note the rich coloration of the gular creases. -
Bradypodion taeniabronchum
Bradypodion taeniabronchum
For size comparison:
Thanks for looking and I hoped you enjoyed the little insight into this journey of finding Bradypodion taeniabronchum
My current updated Bradypodion list:
More images over at: http://www.tyroneping.co.za/
