30-04-2025
Aussie thrilled to capture gecko's 'rarely documented' act: 'Very little is known'
A longtime wildlife photographer was exploring a remote region of Western Australia earlier this month when he came across a native creature performing a 'rarely documented' behaviour.
Although Ross McGibbon was hoping to find a northern knob-tailed gecko (Nephrurus sheai), and a few other species he had yet to film in the east Kimberley region, he was not expecting the reptile to put on such a performance.
Footage he captured shows the juvenile gecko flicking dirt onto its back in what appears to be an attempt to defend itself from flying ants that can be seen repeatedly landing on its tiny frame.
The behaviour, known as sand bathing, is rarely captured on camera, McGibbon told Yahoo News Australia this week, largely due to the 'extremely isolated' area the northern knob-tailed gecko calls home.
'This species is very understudied — very little is known about it,' he said. The species, otherwise known as Kimberley rough knob-tailed gecko, can also be found in the Northern Territory and prefer to live in dry caves and rocky areas.
Thrilled by the 'amazing' scene, McGibbon posted the clip online, exciting thousands of other curious Aussies. 'My best guess is that it was a defensive reaction to the irritation caused by the insects— maybe this is how they deal with mosquitoes and other annoying flying bugs,' he told Yahoo.
'Another theory is that it could be a form of camouflage, but I'd expect the gecko to stay still if that were the case. If it were lying in one spot and covering itself with dirt, that would make more sense as cryptic behaviour.'
The photographer, who has been documenting wildlife for over 10 years, said such moments are a good reminder 'of how much there is still to uncover about the lives of Australia's lesser-seen nocturnal reptiles'.
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McGibbon said he's been lucky enough to observe several fascinating encounters while travelling around the country with his camera in hand. 'Also in the Kimberley, I once saw a Mertens' water monitor lizard dive into a pond and come up with a freshwater crayfish in its jaws,' he said.
'I watched, filmed, and photographed as the goanna subdued the crayfish and swallowed it whole. It had to brace against a tree root to force it down, which was fascinating behaviour to witness.'
He's also photographed an Asian house gecko shredding and eating its own skin, as well an Eyrean earless dragon in outback Queensland, 'waiting to catch flies on the corpse of a feral dog'.
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