EVIDENCE, WITH CONTEXT
A map of possibilities.
Mokomap helps you build an initial lizard list. It does not predict occupancy, replace a field survey, or establish that a species is absent.
What puts a lizard on your list?
01Public observations nearby
A live iNaturalist species-count query searches within your chosen radius, across all eight native lizard genera. By default it includes verifiable, non-captive observations of any date; you can restrict it to Research Grade. Introduced plague skinks are optional. The list is ordered by record count, then by name. Counts are records, not individual animals, abundance estimates or occurrence probabilities.
02Envirolink council checklists
The October 2026 download supplied for this site contains regional reptile lists by Carey Knox, reviewed by Rod Hitchmough (Envirolink 2448-ORC015a, CC BY 4.0). Only skinks and geckos are imported. Source presence codes A–H are preserved. Historical entries and introduced species have separate controls. A regional listing is not evidence of presence at the selected pin.
03Follow the evidence
Open a result for its observation query, reference photograph credits, and any matching NZHS profile. Some iNaturalist names represent older or broader species concepts. Undescribed taxa and grass-skink complexes may not align between sources. Review the original evidence before using a name.
Sensitive species stay imprecise.Only aggregate taxon counts are requested; this map does not plot observation points. iNaturalist may obscure public locations or hide them entirely. A record inside the search circle may therefore originate outside it, and hidden records will be missing. Reference photos are not necessarily from the selected location.
The sources behind the finder
National threat status
National conservation status is retrieved from the current published NZTCS reptile assessments by NZTCS Species ID, via this site’s read-only server route. Results are cached for up to six hours per server instance. This is the NZTCS website’s public data interface, not a documented service guarantee. If retrieval fails, the display explicitly uses a dated fallback or workbook value. Missing or ambiguous taxon matches are not assigned a status. These are national assessments, not regional threat assessments. Threat classifications do not determine which regional presence code a taxon has.
Boundaries and taxonomy
Map boundaries are Stats NZ Regional Council 2025 (1 January 2025), simplified to about 0.001 degrees for display. Chatham Islands are treated separately using the relevant Area Outside Region geometry. The formal boundary polygons do not include Three Kings in Northland; the Northland checklist may still include those taxa. All regions intersected by the search circle are considered. Names are matched through explicit aliases and NZTCS identifiers; broad iNaturalist grass-skink labels may remain unresolved. Exact coordinates in source comments are omitted from the display.
Freshness & privacy
The original NZHS inventory was reviewed on 26 October 2026. The supplied Envirolink workbook was imported on 29 October 2026; this import is versioned, not live. Live observation queries are cached in this browser for an hour. A dated bundled snapshot is used only for a matching example pin and radius when a live request fails, and is always labelled. Third-party maps, iNaturalist and place search receive the requests needed to provide their services. Pins are saved on this device only; geolocation runs only when you request it. Place search uses OpenStreetMap / Nominatim. No observation coordinates or observer identities are stored.
For decisions about surveys, management or development, check current DOC information and seek a qualified herpetologist’s assessment. DOC lizard information ↗
