Species of reptile
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
. It is native to northern
Australia
and southern
New Guinea
. This species is the
only member
of the
genus
Chlamydosaurus
. Its common names come from the large
frill
around its neck, which usually stays folded against the lizard's body. It reaches 90 cm (35 in) from head to tail and can weigh 600 g (1.3 lb). Males are larger and more robust than females. The lizard's body is generally grey, brown, orangish-brown, or black in colour. The frills have red, orange, yellow, or white colours.
The frilled lizard is largely
arboreal
, spending most of its time in trees. Its diet consists mainly of insects and other
invertebrates
. It is more active during the
wet season
, when it spends more time near or on the ground, and is less observed during the
dry season
, during which it seeks shade in the branches of the upper
canopy
. It breeds in the late dry season and early wet season. The lizard uses its frill to
scare off
predators and
display
to other individuals. The species is considered to be of
least concern
by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature
.
Taxonomy
[
edit
]
British zoologist
John Edward Gray
described the frilled lizard in 1825 as
Clamydosaurus kingii
. 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
.
[2]
[3]
The generic name,
Chlamydosaurus
, is derived from the
Ancient Greek
chlamydo
(χλαμ??), meaning "cloaked" or "mantled", and
Latin
saurus
(
sauros
), meaning "lizard".
[4]
The specific name,
kingii
, is a Latinised form of King.
[5]
It is the only species classified in its genus.
[6]
The frilled lizard is classified in the family
Agamidae
and the subfamily
Amphibolurinae
. It
split
from its closest living relatives around 10 million years ago based on genetic evidence.
[7]
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). One lineage ranged across
Queensland
and southern
New Guinea
and is
sister
to one that ranged from western Queensland to the Ord River. The ancestor of these two split from a lineage that populates the
Kimberley
. 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 study upholds
C. kingii
as one species with the different populations being "shallow
allopatric
clades
".
[8]
The following
cladogram
is based on Pyron and colleagues (2013).
[9]
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Frilled lizard (
Clamydosaurus kingi
)
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Description
[
edit
]
Anatomy of the frill of
Chlamydosaurus kingii
The frilled lizard and grows to a total length of around 90 centimetres (35 in) and a head-body length of 27 cm (11 in), and weighs up to 600 g (1.3 lb).
[8]
[10]
[11]
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.
[6]
[10]
[12]
The species is
sexually dimorphic
, males being larger than females
[8]
[10]
and having proportionally bigger frills, heads and jaws.
[13]
The corners of the frilled lizard's eyes are pointed and the rounded nostrils face away from each other and angle downwards. Most of the lizard's
scales
are
keeled
, having a ridge down the centre. From the backbone to the sides, the scales alternate between small and large.
[6]
The distinctive frill is a flap of skin that extends from the head and neck and contains several folded ridges. When fully extended, the frill is disc-shaped and can reach over four times the length of the animal's torso in diameter. Otherwise it wraps around the body.
[14]
[15]
The frill is laterally symmetrical; the right and left sides are attached at the bottom in a V-shape, and cartilage-like connective tissue (Grey's cartilage) connects the top ends to each side of the head near the ear openings.
[12]
[14]
The frill is supported by rod-like
hyoid bones
, and is spread out by movements of these bones, the lower jaw and Grey's cartilage.
[14]
This structure mainly functions as a
threat display
to predators and for communication between individuals.
[15]
It can expand to about 30 cm (12 in) across.
[16]
It can also act as camouflage when folded, but this is unlikely to have been a consequence of
selection pressure
.
[15]
The frill may be capable of working like a
directional microphone
, allowing them to better hear sounds directly in front of them but not around them.
[17]
There is no evidence for other suggested functions, such as food storage, gliding or temperature regulation.
[15]
A frilled lizard in a reptile display (frill folded)
Frilled lizards vary between grey, brown, orangish-brown, and black dorsally, the underside being paler white or yellow. Males have a dark belly but a lighter chest. The underside and lateral sides of the species are sprinkled with dark brown markings that merge to create bands on the tail.
[6]
The colours of the frills vary based on range; lizards west of the Ord River have red-coloured frills, those living between the river and the Carpentarian Gap have orange frills, and those east of the gap have yellow to white frills. New Guinean frilled lizards are yellow-frilled.
[8]
The more colourful frills have white patches which may add to the display.
[18]
Colouration is mainly created by
carotenoids
and
pteridine
pigments; lizards with red and orange frills have more carotenoids than those with yellow and white frills, the latter two are also lacking in pteridines.
[8]
[19]
Yellow colouration has been linked to higher steroid hormones.
[19]
Among western lizards, the amount of red or orange colouring correlates with success in display competitions between males of similar size.
[20]
Distribution and habitat
[
edit
]
The frilled lizard inhabits northern Australia and southern New Guinea. Its Australian range stretches from the Kimberley region of
Western Australia
east through the
Top End
of the
Northern Territory
to Queensland's
Cape York Peninsula
and nearby islands of
Muralug
,
Badu
, and
Moa
, and south to
Brisbane
.
[1]
[6]
In New Guinea, it lives in the
Trans-Fly ecosystem
on both the
Papua New Guinean
and
Indonesian
sides of the island.
[1]
The species mainly inhabits
savannahs
and
sclerophyll
woodlands.
[6]
[8]
It prefers highly elevated areas with good soil drainage and a greater variety of tree species, mostly
Eucalyptus
species, and avoids lower plains with mostly
Melaleuca
and
Pandanus
trees.
[10]
Frilled lizards also prefer areas with less vegetation on the ground, as they can then better spot prey from above.
[21]
Behaviour and ecology
[
edit
]
Frilled lizard in natural environment, showing camouflage
The frilled lizard is a
diurnal
(daytime) and
arboreal
species,
[8]
spending over 90% each day up in the trees. It spends as little time on the ground as possible, mostly to feed, interact socially, or to travel to a new tree. Males move around more, 69 m (75 yd) per day on average versus 23 m (25 yd) for females at
Kakadu National Park
.
[10]
In the same area, male lizards were found to have an average
home range
of 1.96 ha (4.8 acres) during the
dry season
and 2.53 ha (6.3 acres) during the
wet season
; females used 0.63 ha (1.6 acres) and 0.68 ha (1.7 acres) for the wet and dry seasons, respectively.
[10]
[22]
Male lizards assert their boundaries with frill displays.
[15]
Frilled lizards are capable of moving
bipedally
and do so while hunting or to escape from predators. To keep balanced, they lean their heads far back enough, so it lines up behind the tail base.
[10]
[12]
[18]
These lizards are more active during the wet season, when they select smaller trees and are more commonly seen near the ground; during the dry season, they use larger trees and are found at greater heights.
[23]
Frilled lizards do not enter
torpidity
during the dry season, but they can greatly reduce their energy usage and metabolic rate in response to less food and water.
[24]
Body temperatures can approach 40 °C (104 °F).
[10]
The species will
bask
vertically on the main tree trunk in the morning and near the end of the day,
[10]
[25]
though in the dry season they cease basking at a lower body temperature to better maintain energy and water.
[25]
[26]
When it gets hotter during day, they climb higher in the canopy for shade.
[10]
Frilled lizards will use large trees and
termite
mounds as refuges during
wildfires
. After a forest is burnt, the lizards select trees with more continuous canopies.
[21]
Frilled lizard in threat display
Frilled lizards primarily feed on insects and other invertebrates, and very rarely take vertebrates. Prominent prey includes termites,
ants
and
centipedes
; termites are particularly important food during the dry season, and
moth
larvae become important during the wet season.
[23]
Consumption of ants drops after early dry season fires but rises following fires later in the season.
[21]
This species is a
sit-and-wait predator
: it watches for potential prey from a tree and, upon seeing it, climbs down and rushes towards it on two legs before descending on all four to grab and eat it. After feeding, it retreats back up a tree.
[10]
Frilled lizards face threats from
birds of prey
and larger lizards and snakes.
[10]
[18]
When threatened, the species erects its frill to make itself look bigger. This display is accompanied by a gaping mouth, puffing, hissing, and tail lashes. The lizard may also flee and hide from its predators.
[18]
Several species of
nematode
infest the gastrointestinal tract.
[27]
There is at least one record of an individual dying of
cryptosporidiosis
.
[28]
Frilled lizards can breed during the late dry and early wet seasons.
[10]
Competing males display with gaping mouths and spread frills. Fights can ensue, in which the lizards pounce and bite each other's heads.
[15]
The female digs a shallow cavity to leave her eggs.
[29]
[30]
They can lay multiple
clutches
per season, and the number of eggs in a clutch can vary from four to over 20.
[10]
[29]
The incubation period can last two to four months,
[29]
[30]
with milder temperatures producing more males and more extreme temperatures producing more females.
[30]
Hatchlings have proportionally smaller frills than adults.
[15]
Lizards grow during the wet season when food is more abundant,
[23]
and males grow faster than females.
[31]
Juvenile males also disperse further from their hatching area.
[32]
The species reaches sexual maturity within two years; males live up to six years compared to four years for females.
[22]
Conservation
[
edit
]
The
International Union for Conservation of Nature
lists the frilled lizard as of
least concern
, due to its abundance and wide range, but warns that its population may be locally declining in some areas. It is a popular species in the pet trade, which may threaten some wild populations. Most pet lizards appear to come from Indonesia, as export of them is banned in Australia and Papua New Guinea.
[1]
Nevertheless, the Indonesian government themselves have allocated the frilled lizard as a protected species under the Article 20 of the Environment and Forestry Ministerial Regulation On Types of Protected Plants and Animals.
[33]
Being difficult to breed in captivity, many presumed captive bred lizards are likely to have been taken from the wild. Frilled lizards may also be threatened by feral cats,
[1]
though they do not appear to be significantly affected by the invasive
cane toad
.
[34]
Relationship with humans
[
edit
]
Frilled lizard from
Narrative of a Survey
Volume 2, by
Phillip Parker King
, 1827
The frilled lizard is considered to be among the most iconic Australian animals along with the
kangaroo
and
koala
.
[10]
Archaeological evidence indicates that frilled lizards were eaten by some
indigenous peoples
in ancient times.
[35]
In the late 19th century,
William Saville-Kent
brought a live lizard to England where it was observed by fellow biologists. Another specimen was kept at a reptile display in Paris, as reptiles were becoming more popular in captivity.
[2]
Because of its unique appearance and behaviour, the creature has often been used in media. In
Steven Spielberg
's 1993 film
Jurassic Park
, the dinosaur
Dilophosaurus
was portrayed with a similar neck frill that rose when attacking.
[14]
Its image has been used in the 1994
LGBT
-themed film
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
.
[36]
The species has been featured on some Australian coins.
[10]
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Chlamydosaurus
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