TIMOR-LESTE REPTILE & AMPHIBIAN SURVEY
MALAHARA, CROCS AND COM

In the afternoon Laca, Sven, Laura and Max went down to the Com jetty and captured several Schlegel's snake-eyed skinks (Cryptoblepharus cf. schlegelianus), a lizard that lives just above the splash-zone on Timorese rocky marine habitats. Later they caught Asian black-spined toads (Duttaphrynus melanostictus), Common house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) and Roti Is. house gecko (H. tenkatei) around the Com Beach Resort compound. The toads are a worrying expansion to the eastern end of the island of an invasive species which we have seen spreading eastwards during the duration of the survey.

The jetty wall at Com	Schlegel's snake-eyed skink, Cryptoblepharus cf. schlegelianus on the jetty wall
Asian black-spined toad, Duttaphrynus melanostictus
Common house gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus	Roti Island house gecko, Hemidactylus tenkatei

In the evening Lukas, Mirco and Laura went snorkeling just off the rocky beach at the Com Resprt, but they won't be doing that again because a little later the team spotted two 4.0m Saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) a few metres off the same beach.

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