![]() ![]() From the backbone to the sides, the scales alternate between small and large. Most of the lizard's scales are keeled, having a ridge down the centre. The corners of the frilled lizard's eyes are pointed and the rounded nostrils face away from each other and angle downwards. The species is sexually dimorphic, males being larger than females and having proportionally bigger frills, heads and jaws. It has a particularly large and wide head a long neck to accommodate the frill long legs and a tail that makes most of its total length. The frilled lizard grows to a total length of around 90 cm (35 in) and a head-body length of 27 centimetres (11 in), and weighs up to 600 g (1.3 lb). Mallee heath dragon ( Amphibolurus norrisi)Īnatomy of the frill of Chlamydosaurus kingii Gilbert's lashtail ( Lophognathus gilberti) The following cladogram is based on Pyron and colleagues (2013). kingii as one species with the different populations being "shallow allopatric clades". Frilled lizards entered southern New Guinea possibly around 17,000 years ago during a glacial cycle, when sea levels were lower and a land bridge connected the island to Cape York. The ancestor of these two split from a lineage that populates the Kimberley. One lineage ranged across Queensland and southern New Guinea and is sister to one that ranged from western Queensland to the Ord River. A 2017 mitochondrial DNA analysis of the species across its range revealed three lineages demarcated by the Ord River and the southeast corner of the Gulf of Carpentaria (Carpentarian Gap). It split from its closest living relatives around 10 million years ago based on genetic evidence. The frilled lizard is classified in the family Agamidae and the subfamily Amphibolurinae. It is the only species classified in its genus. The specific name, kingii, is a Latinised form of King. The generic name, Chlamydosaurus, is derived from the Ancient Greek chlamydo (χλαμύς), meaning "cloaked" or "mantled", and Latin saurus ( sauros), meaning "lizard". He used a specimen collected by botanist Allan Cunningham at Careening Bay, off north-western Australia, while part of an expedition conducted by Captain Phillip Parker King in HMS Mermaid. The species is considered to be of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.īritish zoologist John Edward Gray described the frilled lizard in 1825 as Clamydosaurus kingii. The lizard uses its frill to scare off predators and display to other individuals. It breeds in the late dry season and early wet season. It is less observed during the dry season, during which it seeks shade in the branches of the upper canopy. It is more active during the wet season, when it spends more time near or on the ground. Its diet consists mainly of insects and other invertebrates. The frilled lizard is largely arboreal, spending most of its time in trees. ![]() The frills have red, orange, yellow, or white colours. The lizard's body is generally grey, brown, orangish-brown, or black in colour. Males are larger and more robust than females. It reaches 90 cm (35 in) from head to tail and can weigh 600 g (1.3 lb). Its common names come from the large frill around its neck, which usually stays folded against the lizard's body. ![]() This species is the only member of the genus Chlamydosaurus. It is native to northern Australia and southern New Guinea. The frilled lizard ( Chlamydosaurus kingii), also known as the frillneck lizard, frill-necked lizard or frilled dragon, is a species of lizard in the family Agamidae. ![]()
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