Diploderma swinhonis
Silhouette: Michael Scroggie · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
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 It is also referred to by the common name japalure, which is an outdated common name used to previously identify lizards of the genus Japalura.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 Tainan, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Taiwan Japalure sighting in Tainan on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 7th most-seen of the 11 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Taiwan Japalure in Tainan on a given day, against under 5% in June–September and November–March, the lowest months. Those are among Tainan's driest months, with about 75 mm of rain a month 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.
4th of 4
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Taiwan Japalure sightings, Tainan ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Taipei (Taiwan, about 50%), Taichung (Taiwan, about 40%) and Kaohsiung (Taiwan, about 40%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Taiwan Japalure is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Tainan (8 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.
