352 
L.A. Smith 
Figure 1 Pattern differences between Diplodactylus 
taeniata (above) and D. robinsoni. Drawn from 
R70405 and R108645 respectively. 
Remarks 
Three other species in the Diplodactylus 
michaelsmi group, subgenus Strophurus, occur in 
the Kimberley region of Western Australia. 
Diplodactylus jearne is only found in the southern 
Kimberley (Storr et al. 1990) and has the rostral in 
contact with the nostril. Of the remaining two 
species, D. mcmillani is considered a northwest 
Kimberley endemic and allopatric with D. 
robinsoni, leaving D. taeniata as the only species in 
the group sympatric with D. robinsoni. 
Apart from size and pattern D. taeniata differs 
Figure 2 Distribution of (O) Diplodactylus mcmillani, 
(•) D. robinsoni and (A) D. taeniata in the 
Kimberley, W.A. 
from D. robinsoni in having fewer labials, fewer 
undivided lamellae and fewer cloacal spines (see 
Table 1). Furthermore, the rostral crease completely 
divides the rostral in D. taeniata but only partially 
divides the rostral in D. robinsoni. 
D. robinsoni is most similar in body proportions 
and details of scalation to D. mcmillani and these 
taxa may be closely related. Apart from the 
differences in size and patterning noted earlier (see 
also Figure 1), D. robinsoni averages slightly higher 
numbers of subdigital lamellae and labials to below 
the eye (see Table 2). 
All three Western Australian specimens were 
taken from Triodia on sandstone. 
Etymology 
This species is named after David Robinson in 
appreciation of his voluntary assistance to the 
Department of Herpetology, Western Australian 
Museum both in the field and in the laboratory. 
Table 1 Comparison of size and numbers of cloacal spines, undivided subdigital lamellae and labials in D. robinsoni, 
D. mcmillani and D. taeniata. 
Size of 
males 
(SVL) 
Size of 
females 
(SVL) 
Overall size 
(SVL) 
Cloacal 
spines 
(males) 
Undivided 
lamellae 
labials (to 
below eye) 
N 
3 
1 
4 
4 
4 
4 
D. robinsoni 
Range 
51-55 
55 
51-55 
3-4 
5-6 
11-13 
Mean 
53.0 
52.7 
3.3 
5.2 
12.5 
N 
18 
19 
37 
18 
21 
29 
D. mcmillani 
Range 
35-49 
36-52 
35-52 
2-4 
3-6 
9-14 
Mean 
41.7 
45.9 
42.9 
3 
4 
11.2 
N 
7 
5 
12 
7 
10 
12 
D. taeniata 
Range 
32-41 
37-44 
32-44 
2-2 
3-4 
8-10 
Mean 
37.4 
40.2 
38.6 
2.0 
3.6 
9.0 
