South African Bradypodion Road Trip.

[melanocephalum]

Thought I'd share my field trip from December 2015 with those interested in Bradypodion.
It began on the 6th December 2015 I set off from Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal on a 11 day 1475km/987mile road trip focusing on reptiles and amphibians with specific Bradypodion targets in mind.

I photographed 37 Reptile and Amphibian species, four of which were Bradypodion three of which I'd never seen before.


Bradypodion atromontanum
Bradypodion caffer
Bradypodion damaranum
Bradypodion ventrale

Bradypodion caffer
Was the first species I found, I'd visited this area once before but missed out. I found the first individual this time within minutes.

Adult male.

Sub-adult

Another Adult:

Juvenile

My next Stop was some 709 km's South the small Village of Hogsback in the Eastern Cape.
Another lifer for the trip, although being the most widely distributed Bradypodion in South Africa it's taken me this long to find one is almost embarrassing.

Bradypodion ventrale
Adult

Adult 2

Juvenile

Juvenile

Juvenile

My next stop was some 675kms South of Hogsback to the small town of George in the Western Cape.
I'd found this species several times before so I took these two images whilst searching for them in the pouring rain blowing camera gear wasn't quite worth it.

Bradypodion damaranum
Adult

Close up.

Next and final stop for the Bradypodion for this trip was the Swartberg Mountain Range. In search of the most recently described Bradypodion of the set only fully described in 2006. Most definitely the highlight of my entire trip.

Bradypodion atromontanum
Sub-Adult

Adult

Sub-Adult

Sub-Adult

Individual with abnormally short tail

For Size comparison

Habitat shot Montane Fynbos.


Thanks for looking, for more Bradypodions images and species you can visit my site:
http://www.tyroneping.co.za/chameleons/

 

[jpowell86]

Awesome photos!! What a cool trip that must have been. Thanks for sharing!

 

[bobcochran]

Well, I'm jealous!
What a great trip, nice pics too!

 

[kiwilulu]

Awesome pics. Thanks for sharing!

 

[ChameleonPedro]

Dang, that one towards the end that was almost all black with a slight hint of bright orange is awesome looking!

 

[Meg4433]

Sounds fun thanks for sharing

 

[melanocephalum]

Awesome photos!! What a cool trip that must have been. Thanks for sharing!

Cheers mate.

 

[Chris Anderson]

Great post! Thanks for sharing, Tyrone!

Chris

 

[carol5208]

Wow they are so cool! I love how their scales are so pronounced. Thank you for taking the time to post all the pictures. Must be so amazing to see them in the wild.

 

[Dave Bolamperti]

What a great adventure, awesome pics
Thanks for sharing
Dave

 

[melanocephalum]

Wow they are so cool! I love how their scales are so pronounced. Thank you for taking the time to post all the pictures. Must be so amazing to see them in the wild.

Thanks for taking the time to view the images Carol, glad you enjoyed the photos!

 

[melanocephalum]

Great post! Thanks for sharing, Tyrone!

Chris

Cheers thanks Chris!

 

[melanocephalum]

What a great adventure, awesome pics
Thanks for sharing
Dave

It sure was Dave, thanks for looking!

 

[trickedoutbiker]

Thanks for the post! I had a good time reading through it and checking out the pics. Very unique chameleons. They all look so wonderful! My favorite though had to of been the Bradypodion ventrale with the purple spots on it. Very very cool. Must have deff been a neat trip. Thanks again for sharing.