Searching for the elusive Muriwau Gecko Webpage
- Author
- Brooke, M.
- Year
- 2020
- Publisher / Organisation
- Auckland Zoo
- Month
- September
- Summary
- How do you learn more about a recently discovered species when you don’t know where it lives? For a team of conservationists in Auckland with a shared passion for reptiles, finding the answer to this question is all part of a dedicated plan centred on the small and elusive Muriwai gecko. The Muriwai gecko was first spotted in 1954 but was only recently recognised as a new species and is yet to be scientifically described. An ornithologist (a bird expert) who was working on a tiny island off Auckland’s west coast saw a couple of geckos under a rock. According to lizard expert Dylan van Winkel, the observation was reported but not followed up. Then in 2003 a gecko was found dead in the dunes on the mainland nearby and the specimen was incorrectly tagged as Woodworthia maculata (the widespread Raukawa/common gecko) at Auckland Museum. In 2010, Auckland Council staff went out to the same island for routine biosecurity work and found some more live specimens. They took photographs and sent them to Dylan for identification.