Diploderma swinhonis
Silhouette: Michael Scroggie · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%
Diploderma swinhonis, also known commonly as the Taiwan japalure, Swinhoe's japalure, Swinhoe's lizard, and Swinhoe's tree lizard (Chinese: 斯文豪氏攀蜥), is a species of draconid lizard native to Taiwan. It is also an invasive alien species in Japan, after likely being introduced from Taiwan. A foraging ambush predator, this lizard preys primarily on arthropods and remains at the bottom of forests. The male D. swinhonis is physically distinct from the female, with its body size being much larger and having a yellow stripe.
Both the specific name, swinhonis, and some of the common names are in honour of English naturalist Robert Swinhoe. In Latin, its generic name, Diploderma, can be broken down into Diplo-, which means "many", and derma, which means "skin". It is also referred to by the common name japalure, which is an outdated common name used to previously identify lizards of the genus Japalura. The generic name, Japalura, is speculated to have derived from an Indian word.
There are issues with the history of taxonomic classification for Swinhoe's tree lizard. For one, Japalura swinhonis formosensis, which used to be thought of as a subspecies to Swinhoe... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Berlin Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Aquarium Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany |
No species of the same family or order lives in Kaohsiung, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Taiwan Japalure sighting in Kaohsiung on a given day, based on 175 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 3rd most-seen of the 23 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Taiwan Japalure in Kaohsiung on a given day, against about 10% in January and February, the lowest months. That is one of Kaohsiung's driest months, with about 75 mm of rain against 440 mm in August.
Between 4 and 7 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Taiwan Japalure sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
3rd of 4
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Taiwan Japalure sightings, Kaohsiung ranks 3rd at about 40%. The best odds are in Taipei (Taiwan, about 50%) and Taichung (Taiwan, about 40%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Taiwan Japalure is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Kaohsiung (175 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
