Added as a separate page 8 March 2026.
For over a century this was thought to be a monotypic genus, but from 1985 onwards it has become apparent that in fact there were several species within R. ornata, most recently in 2011.
Boulenger summarised the genus as follows: digits cylindrical, slightly compressed, clawed, covered with uniform small granules. Scales uniformly granular, subimbricate on ventral region. Rostral and mental plates projecting, nail-like. Pupil vertical.
I am unaware of anyone having kept these species in captivity outside Australia.
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QUICK INDEX |
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R. angusta, Border Beaked Gecko |
R. eyrensis, Eyre Basin Beaked Gecko |
R. mentalis, Brigalow Beaked Gecko |
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R. ormsbyi, Eastern Beaked Gecko |
R. ornata, Western Beaked Gecko |
R. sexapora, Northern Beaked Gecko |
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Scientific name |
Common name |
Place of origin |
Size (max) |
Notes |
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Rhynchoedura |
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Border Beaked Gecko |
Australia (New South Wales, Queensland) |
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Eyre Basin Beaked Gecko |
Australia (South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, poss. SE Northern Territory) |
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Brigalow Beaked Gecko |
Australia (Queensland) |
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Eastern Beaked Gecko |
Australia (New South Wales, Queensland) |
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Western Beaked Gecko |
Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia) |
TL approx 7 cm, SVL approx 4.5 cm |
A very wide-ranging inhabitant of the sandy deserts of the dry interior, this gecko is considered endangered in its natural habitat. This lizard, like some other species, uses tunnels dug by the skink Egernia striata as a daytime retreat. Click here for a photograph. Description: head resembling that of a young bird, high, the snout pointed and compressed, beak-like: the length of the snout equals the diameter of the orbit, and is much more than the distance between the latter and the very small, roundish ear-opening; the upper eyelid is broad, and may cover a good part of the eye. Body rather elongate, scarcely depressed. Limbs moderately elongate; the digits are rather slender, and the outer toe inserted far down. Scalation details: head and body covered with small granules, from which the labials can hardly be distinguished, smallest on the throat, largest, flattened and subimbricate on the belly; enlarged scales before and behind the vent. Nostrils large, pierced between granules; rostral and mental small, nail-like, prominent, forming two small hooks. Tail: short, rounded, swollen, covered with rings of smooth square scales. Coloration: light greyish-brown above, with round, faint, whitish spots; each side with confluent blackish-brown half rings; a blackish-brown band across the occiput; lower parts white. [SOURCE: Boulenger] |
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Northern Beaked Gecko |
Australia (Kimberley region of Western Australia) |
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Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Harold Cogger, 6th edition. Best all-in-one guide to Australian herpetology available.
Lizards of the World, Mattison
Keeping and Breeding Lizards, Mattison