Wildlife of the Pilbara

Photo Galleries | Updated 7 years ago

Red gorges with large trees growing at the bottomDale’s Gorge, Karijini NP
Image copyright: Linette Umbrello A fig tree growing on a rocky ledge with rootsFig trees grow along the rock ledges in the gorges, where the conditions are more wet and humid. The leaf-litter from the figs and melaleucas forms a crucial habitat for gorge dwelling animals.
Image copyright: Linette Umbrello A small light-brown arachnid on a red rockA new species of the schizomid genus Draculoides, found in Karijini NP
Photo - Mark Harvey. Image copyright: WA Museum A red gorge with reeds and sedges is reflected in a creekKalamina gorge, Karijini NP
Image copyright: Linette Umbrello people check bucket and funnel traps for animals in spinifex grassland in the morningScientists check pit and funnel traps for reptiles and spiders in the early morning, at Karijini NP
Image copyright: Linette Umbrello A large gecko on a red rockA marbled gecko (Oedura marmorata) commonly seen on rocks in the gorges at night
Image copyright: Linette Umbrello A small pink-ish coloured snake on a red rockA juvenile pygmy python (Antaresia perthensis) found foraging for frogs at night
Image copyright: Linette Umbrello A large black scorpion on a red rockA new species of the scorpion genus Urodacus from Karijini NP
Photo - Mark Harvey. Image copyright: WA Museum two small brown frogs mating in a pool of waterMale and female Pilbara toadlets (Uperolia saxatilis) in amplexis, Karijini NP
Image copyright: Linette Umbrello people catching insects on a white sheet at nightScientists collect insects using a light trap at Millstream-Chichester NP
Image copyright: Linette Umbrello A large dark gorge overlooking a pool of water during the dayGeorge River gorge, Millstream-Chichester NP, an important habitat for pseudoscorpions
Image copyright: Linette Umbrello A red storm cloud over a flat grassy landscape with a gravel roadA Pilbara storm sweeps across the burnt landscape, picking up dust and turning the clouds red, at Millstream-Chichester NP
Image copyright: Linette Umbrello six boxes of pinned insectsInsects collected on the trip and pinned by Entomology Curator Nikolai Tatarnic
Image copyright: Linette Umbrello people digging in buckets in a grassy landscape in the morningEarly morning digging in a pit fall trap line for the vertebrate survey of Millstream-Chichester NP
Image copyright: Linette Umbrello A small gecko on red-ish rocks and sandNorthern Pilbara beak-faced gecko (Diplodactylus galaxias) caught at Millstream-Chichester NP
Image copyright: Linette Umbrello A small brown mammal eating a moth on red sandA female planigale, a tiny carnivorous marsupial, eating a moth at Millstream-Chichester NP
Image copyright: Linette Umbrello A large brown spider on red gravelA new species of the trapdoor spider genus Conothele from Millstream-Chichester NP
Photo - Mark Harvey. Image copyright: WA Museum

The Western Australian Museum Terrestrial Zoology team recently ran a field trip to Karijini and Millstream-Chichester national parks in the Pilbara, to collect tissue samples for the Molecular Systematics Unit’s Conservation Genetics of the Pilbara Fauna Project, funded by the Net Conservation Benefits Fund. Survey teams used a variety of techniques to sample for reptiles, mammals, frogs, trapdoor spiders, pseudoscorpions, land snails, insects and other invertebrate groups. Key habitats examined were gorges, mulga woodland and spinifex hummock-grassland on heavy clay soils.