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| Scale Bellied Tree Lizard, Acanthosaurus lepidogaster (Cuvier 1829). Photographed in Thung Salaeng Luang National Park, Phitsanulok Provice, Thailand. The lizard, presumably a juvenile, was in a forest-edge situation and about 50 cm off the ground. This insectivore reaches a total length of 270 mm. It is widespread in Indochina, ranges into southern China, and occurs on the island of Hainan. It has also been placed in the genera Calotes and Goniocephalus. Click on photo for more Acanthosaura. |
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A juvenile Rhinoceros Horned Lizard, Ceratophora stoddartii Gray, 1834. Photographed in Sri Lanka at the Tangamalai Nature Reserve. This juvenile was sleeping on the vegetation about a meter off the ground. Rhinoceros Horned Lizards move slowly while hunting invertebrates on the forest floor. Clutches of 2-5 eggs are laid in July. Adult males have long horns, while females and juvenile males have shorter rostral appendages. |
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| Blue Eyed Angle Headed Lizard, Gonocephalus liogaster (Gunther, 1872) , Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia (Island of Borneo). Adults reach 140 mm in body length. They inhabit rainforest and peat swamp forests, often along the edges of streams. They are diurnal, lay small (1-4) clutches of eggs and inhabit peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and Borneo. Click on the photo of other Gonocephalus photos. |
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| The Frilled Dragon, Chlamydosaurus kingii Gray, 1825. Photograph of a captive specimen. Frilled Dragons inhabit northern and eastern Australia from Brisbane to Western Australia. Adults reach a body length of 285 mm. They inhabit tropical woodlands and are often seen perched 1-2 m above the ground. The distinctive frilled collar may be 30 cm across, and is used in a defense display. |
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| The Blue Crested Lizard, Calotes mystaceus. Photographed in a dry forest in central Thailand. Adults reach a body length of 140 mm, and a total length of 420 mm. This is a bright blue-green, arboreal Calotes that is endemic to the Indochinese Peninsula and Myanmar. Click on the photo for more Calotes. |
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| A flying lizard Draco sp., from southern Thailand. All of the species of Draco have a wing-like membrane supported by the last 5-7 ribs. This is not a modified limb as is found in birds or bats, so it is not considered to be a true wing. Instead it is called a patagium. Draco tend to be diurnal lizards that eat mostly ants. At first sight they may be mistaken for butterflies as they glide from tree trunk to tree trunk. Flying lizards have considerable control over their flight, being able to steer, and they loose little altitude while gliding between tree trunks. Females go to the forest floor to lay their eggs, that are usually few in number. For more information on Draco click on the photo to go to the Draco Page |
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| This lizard is most likely the Ornate Dabb Lizard, Uromastyx ornata Heyden, 1827. The animal in the photograph was captive bred. Uromastyx ornata ranges from the southern Sinai to the mountains of western Arabia. It seems to avoid extremely arid conditions and is often associated with Acacia trees below 1000 m in altitude. It reaches a total length of 385 mm. For more Leiolepis-Uromastyx Clade Lizards click on the photo. |
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| The Inland Bearded Dragon, Pogona vitticeps (Ahl, 1926) Photographs of captive animals. The Bearded Dragon is endemic to central Australia, and very popular in the pet trade. For more photos of the Pogona click on the photo. |
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| Agamids are Eastern Hemisphere lizards inhabiting Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, New Guinea, and some of the Indo-Australian islands. They are absent from Madagascar. There are more than 400 species in about 50 genera. Their overall appearance ranges from the ground dwelling, spiny-scaled thorny devil of Australia to the fine-scaled, gliding Draco of Southeast Asia, and the iguana-like water dragons (Physignathus). The head scales are usually small and irregular, and almost never plate-like. They have unusual teeth that are fused to the top of the jaw bones. These are not replaced from below when they break, instead new teeth are added from the rear of the jaw. The teeth are also unusual for reptiles, in that they show specialization into incisor, canine, and molar-like teeth. Tails do not break off easily. Most are diurnal and terrestrial, but there are many exceptions. All lay eggs, except for Phrynocephalus which is viviparous. Most agamids are insectivorous, but a few are herbivorous or strict carnivores. The sister group to the agamids are the true chameleons (Chamaeleonidae). Amer and Kumazawa (2007, Molecular Biology and Evolution 24:1330-1339) discovered a novel gene in Calotes versicolor, providing the first known example of gene inversion in vertebrate mtDNAs. Phylogenetic analyses including clock-free Bayesian analyses for divergence time estimation suggested a single occurrence of the gene inversion on a lineage leading to the draconine agamids during the Paleogene period (65-23 MYA).The inverted gene was shared by all South Asian draconine agamids examined but by none of the other Asian and African agamids. More recent molecular work suggests agamids are part of the Iguania clade and shared an ancestor with the Iguanids about 144 Ma ((155-129 Ma). They shared an ancestor with the chameleons about 83 Ma (90-70 Ma). |