Month: December 2013

Species: Scincella reevesii English Name: Reeves’ Smooth Skink Chinese Name: 南滑蜥 Family: Scincidae Description: Small, slimmer Skink, up to 13 cm in total length, bronze-brown in color with a black dorsolateral stripe, extending from eye to tail. Males have a red patch on lower flanks and the underside is yellow (belly) and orange-yellow (tail). Females underside is white (belly)…

Species: Ateuchosaurus chinensis English Name: Chinese Forest Skink Chinese Name: 光蜥 Family: Scincidae Description: The Chinese Forest Skink has up to 20 cm in total length. It is reddish to grayish-brown above with a black band extending from eye to beyond foreleg, pearly white below and the sides are heavily spotted. Adult males have bright pink throat and underside…

Species: Calotes versicolor English Name: Changeable Lizard, Oriental Garden Lizard, Eastern Garden Lizard Chinese Name: 变色树蜥, 马鬃蛇, 鸡冠蛇 Family: Agamidae Description: Medium-sized lizard (37 cm in total length) with a spiny crest along the nape and back, a distinctive spine above  the tympanum and lack of a shoulder fold. The coloration varies from dull brown to grey or olive, but…

Species: Hemidactylus garnotii English Name: Garnot’s Gecko, Indo-Pacific Gecko Chinese Name: 鋸尾蜥虎 Family: Gekkonidae Description: Medium sized gecko, up to 15 cm in total length. The body is grey to brown with prominent saw-like yellow spines along lateral sides of the tail. The ventral surface is yellowish with two white patches on the throat.Reproduction occurs by parthenogenesis: all individuals…

Species: Hemidactylus brookii English Name: Brook’s Gecko, Brook’s House Gecko Chinese Name: 密疣蜥虎 Family: Gekkonidae Description: Medium sized, slender gecko, up to 15 cm in total length. The body is tan in color and the ventral side is white to light yellow. The dorsal surface of the body and tail is covered by prominent tuberculous and the tail is…

Species: Hemidactylus bowringii English Name: Bowring’s Gecko, Oriental Leaf-toed Gecko Chinese Name: 原尾蜥虎, 鹽蛇 Family: Gekkonidae Description: Medium-sized, slender gecko (up to 14 cm in total length). The tail can reach almost the entire length of the body. The coloration is light tan, but it can change according to the surroundings. The head has a longitudinal line running from the snout until…

Species: Gekko chinensis English Name: Chinese Gecko, Gray’s Chinese Gecko Chinese Name: 壁虎 Family: Gekkonidae Description: Fairy large gecko (total length up to 18 cm). The body is grayish with distinctive brown or black bands on the tail. The head is large and flatten. It is a nocturnal species and can be found hiding in crevices in forest areas, caves…

Species: Pelodiscus sinensis English Name: Chinese softshell turtle, Asiatic soft-shelled turtle Chinese Name: 中華鱉 Family: Trionychidae Description: Small to medium-sized turtle (11-25 cm in carapace length) with a softshell (because the carapace lack the horny scutes). The coloration is olive upperside and pale underside. It is well adapted to aquatic environments, including brackish swamps and marshes, and is rarely…

Species: Geoemyda spengleri English Name: Black-breasted Leaf Turtle, Vietnamese Leaf Turtle, Black-breasted Hill Turtle Chinese Name: 地龜, 黑胸葉龜, 長尾山龜, 十二棱龜, 金龜 Family: Geoemydidae Description: Small turtle with adults not exceeding 12 cm in carapace length. It is easily distinguished by his flatten carapace, serrated at the front and back, with three keels. The plastron is dark-brown to black with…