Nephrurus levis
Silhouette: Jose Carlos Arenas-Monroy · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~80%
Nephrurus levis, commonly known as the three-lined knob-tailed gecko, smooth knob-tailed gecko, or common knob-tailed gecko, is a native Australian gecko species. The smooth knob-tailed gecko is part of the Carphodactylidae family, a family endemic to Australia. A common alternative name for this family is "barking geckos" due to the loud barks they make during threat displays, which includes swaying their bodies, winding their tail and attacking with an open mouth. There are multiple sub-species of Nephrurus levis, these include N.l. levis, N.l. occidentalis and N.l. pibarenis. Its various Indigenous names include: Illchilijera from the Arrernte people of central Australia, Wauṟa from the Anangu peoples of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park region in central Australia, Jagajagara in the Ngarluma language from the Pilbara region in Coastal Western Australia, and Tyarla-tyarla from the Wangkangurru people whose traditional lands include parts of the Simpson Desert in South Australia and Queensland.
A robust, medium-sized gecko, with a large, triangular head. It has a short, flattened, carrot shaped like tail, that ends in a knob. This tail can be autotomised to distract... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Range | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Ningaloo Marine Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States |
No species of the same family or order lives in Ningaloo Marine Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Common Knob-tailed Lizard sighting in Ningaloo Marine Park on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 11th most-seen of the 29 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Common Knob-tailed Lizard in Ningaloo Marine Park on a given day, against under 5% in February and November, the lowest months. That is one of Ningaloo Marine Park's driest months, with about 5 mm of rain against 50 mm in June.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Knob-tailed Lizard sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Common Knob-tailed Lizard sightings, Ningaloo Marine Park ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Cape Range (Australia, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Knob-tailed Lizard is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Ningaloo Marine Park (16 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
