South African Bradypodion Road Trip.

melanocephalum

Avid Member
Thought I'd share my field trip from December 2015 with those interested in Bradypodion.
It began on the 6th December 2015 I set off from Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal on a 11 day 1475km/987mile road trip focusing on reptiles and amphibians with specific Bradypodion targets in mind.

I photographed 37 Reptile and Amphibian species, four of which were Bradypodion three of which I'd never seen before.


Bradypodion atromontanum
Bradypodion caffer
Bradypodion damaranum
Bradypodion ventrale


MAPS.jpg


Bradypodion caffer
Was the first species I found, I'd visited this area once before but missed out. I found the first individual this time within minutes.

Adult male.
Bradypodion_caffer_Tyrone_Ping-1024x683.jpg

Sub-adult
Bradypodion-caffer-Transkei-Dwarf-Chameleon.-From-Port-St-Johns-Eastern-Cape-1024x683.jpg

Another Adult:
Bradypodion-caffer-Transkei-Dwarf-Chameleon.-From-Port-St-Johns-Eastern-Cape.-1024x683.jpg

Juvenile
Bradypodion-caffer-Transkei-Dwarf-Chameleon.-From-Port-St-Johns-Eastern-Cape4-1024x650.jpg


My next Stop was some 709 km's South the small Village of Hogsback in the Eastern Cape.
Another lifer for the trip, although being the most widely distributed Bradypodion in South Africa it's taken me this long to find one is almost embarrassing.

Bradypodion ventrale
Adult
Bradypodion_ventrale_Tyrone_Ping_WM13-1024x718.jpg

Adult 2
Bradypodion_ventrale_Tyrone_Ping_WM12-1024x683.jpg

Juvenile
Bradypodion_ventrale_Tyrone_Ping_WM7-1024x738.jpg

Juvenile
Bradypodion_ventrale_Tyrone_Ping_WM16-1024x683.jpg

Juvenile
Bradypodion_ventrale_Tyrone_Ping_WM15-1024x621.jpg



My next stop was some 675kms South of Hogsback to the small town of George in the Western Cape.
I'd found this species several times before so I took these two images whilst searching for them in the pouring rain blowing camera gear wasn't quite worth it.

Bradypodion damaranum
Adult
Bradypodion_damaranum_Tyrone_Ping_WM1-1024x691.jpg

Close up.
Bradypodion_damaranum_Tyrone_Ping_WM2-1024x668.jpg


Next and final stop for the Bradypodion for this trip was the Swartberg Mountain Range. In search of the most recently described Bradypodion of the set only fully described in 2006. Most definitely the highlight of my entire trip.

Bradypodion atromontanum
Sub-Adult
Bradypodion_atromontanum_Tyrone_Ping_WM14-1024x683.jpg

Adult
Bradypodion_atromontanum_Tyrone_Ping_WM12-1024x576.jpg

Sub-Adult
Bradypodion_atromontanum_Tyrone_Ping_WM13-1024x683.jpg

Sub-Adult
Bradypodion_atromontanum_Tyrone_Ping_WM16-1024x683.jpg

Individual with abnormally short tail
Bradypodion_atromontanum_Tyrone_Ping_WM7-1024x664.jpg

For Size comparison
Bradypodion_atromontanum_Tyrone_Ping_2WM.jpg

Habitat shot Montane Fynbos.


Thanks for looking, for more Bradypodions images and species you can visit my site:
http://www.tyroneping.co.za/chameleons/
 
Wow they are so cool! I love how their scales are so pronounced. Thank you for taking the time to post all the pictures. Must be so amazing to see them in the wild.
 
Thanks for the post! I had a good time reading through it and checking out the pics. Very unique chameleons. They all look so wonderful! My favorite though had to of been the Bradypodion ventrale with the purple spots on it. Very very cool. Must have deff been a neat trip. Thanks again for sharing. :)
 
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