📸 PhotoPhoto: Jimmy Kao · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Taiwan Japalure
Diploderma swinhonis (Taiwan Japalure · スウィンホーキノボリトカゲ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its size at maturity of 50–53 mm is about twice the diameter of a Korean 500-won coin (about 26.5 mm) (Comparison).
- 💡 In Japan, it was first reported on the mainland in 2006 and was also found in Hyuga City, Miyazaki Prefecture in 2016, where it is treated as an invasive alien species (described in a PMC paper).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The Taiwan Japalure is a diurnal arboreal lizard native to Taiwan and Orchid Island (Lanyu) that has also become established as an introduced species in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
The snout-vent length (from snout tip to cloaca) at sexual maturity is 53.0 mm in males and 50.2 mm in females.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
In Taiwan it feeds mainly on ants and various small insects. In the Hyuga City population in Japan, ants likewise made up the largest share of its diet across seasons and sexes, and the species is oviparous.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2019) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/103308497/103308500
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 8GPMP
- • iucnredlist.org — 103308500
- • wikidata.org — Q106246699
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Diploderma swinhonis (68503651).jpg
- • pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov — PMC9791226
- • reptile-database.reptarium.cz — species
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Natalie Claunch · CC0 1.0 (Related taxon silhouette — Agama agama)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.