Diploderma swinhonis
Silhouette: Michael Scroggie · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% 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 It is also referred to by the common name japalure, which is an outdated common name used to previously identify lizards of the genus Japalura.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 Taichung, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Taiwan Japalure sighting in Taichung on a given day, based on 146 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 22 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June, August and October
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Taiwan Japalure in Taichung on a given day, against under 5% in January, the lowest month. Those are among Taichung's wettest months, with about 230 mm of rain a month against 40 mm in December.
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.
2nd of 4
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Taiwan Japalure sightings, Taichung ranks 2nd at about 40%. The best odds are in Taipei (Taiwan, about 50%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Taiwan Japalure is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Taichung (146 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.
