Draco (genus)
Draco is a genus of agamid lizards that are sometimes called flying dragons, flying lizards, gliding dragons, gliding lizards or simply dragons. The ribs and their connecting membrane can be extended to create a kind of wing (a patagium) The hindlimbs are flattened and wing-like in cross-section, and a small set of flaps on the neck serve as a horizontal stabilizers.
| Draco | |
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| Southern Flying Lizard, Draco dussumieri | |
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| Genus: | Draco Linnaeus, 1758
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They live in forests, and eat insects. They cannot fly, but often get lift as they glide.[1] Glides as long as 60 m have been recorded, over which the animal loses only 10 m in height. They are quite small. One species is only about 20 cm long.[2]
The only time a flying lizard comes to the ground is when a female is ready to lay her eggs. She descends the tree she is on and makes a nest hole by forcing her head into the soil. She then lays 2–5 eggs before filling the hole. She guards the eggs for approximately 24 hours, but then leaves and has nothing more to do with her offspring.[2]
Species
changeThere are about 42 species.
- Draco abbreviatus Hardwicke & Gray, 1827 – Singapore flying dragon
- Draco beccarii W. Peters & Doria, 1878
- Draco biaro Lazell, 1987 – Lazell's flying dragon
- Draco bimaculatus Günther, 1864 – two-spotted flying lizard
- Draco blanfordii Boulenger, 1885 – Blanford's flying dragon, Blanford’s flying lizard, Blanford's gliding lizard
- Draco boschmai Hennig, 1936
- Draco caerulhians Lazell, 1992
- Draco cornutus Günther, 1864
- Draco cristatellus Günther, 1872 – crested flying dragon
- Draco cyanopterus W. Peters, 1867
- Draco dussumieri A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1837 – Indian flying lizard, Western Ghats flying lizard, southern flying lizard
- Draco fimbriatus Kuhl, 1820 – fringed flying dragon, crested gliding lizard
- Draco formosus Boulenger, 1900 – dusky gliding lizard
- Draco guentheri Boulenger, 1885 – Günther's flying lizard, Guenther's flying lizard
- Draco haematopogon Gray, 1831 – red-bearded flying dragon, yellow-bearded gliding lizard
- Draco indochinensis M.A. Smith, 1928 – Indochinese flying lizard, Indochinese gliding lizard
- Draco iskandari McGuire et al., 2007
- Draco jareckii Lazell, 1992
- Draco lineatus Daudin, 1802 – lined flying dragon
- Draco maculatus (Gray, 1845) – spotted flying dragon
- Draco maximus Boulenger, 1893 – great flying dragon, giant gliding lizard
- Draco melanopogon Boulenger, 1887 – black-bearded gliding lizard, black-barbed flying dragon
- Draco mindanensis Stejneger, 1908 – Mindanao flying dragon, Mindanao flying lizard
- Draco modiglianii Vinciguerra, 1892 – lined flying dragon
- Draco norvillii Alcock, 1895 – Norvill's flying lizard
- Draco obscurus Boulenger, 1887 – dusky gliding lizard
- Draco ornatus (Gray, 1845) – white-spotted flying lizard
- Draco palawanensis McGuire & Alcala, 2000
- Draco punctatus Boulenger, 1900 – punctate flying dragon
- Draco quadrasi Boettger, 1893 – Quadras's flying lizard
- Draco quinquefasciatus Hardwicke & Gray, 1827 – five-lined flying dragon, five-banded gliding lizard
- Draco reticulatus Günther, 1864
- Draco rhytisma Musters, 1983
- Draco spilonotus Günther, 1872 – Sulawesi lined gliding lizard
- Draco spilopterus Wiegmann, 1834 – Philippine flying dragon
- Draco sumatranus Schlegel, 1844 – common gliding lizard
- Draco supriatnai McGuire et al., 2007
- Draco taeniopterus Günther, 1861 – Thai flying dragon, barred flying dragon, barred gliding lizard
- Draco timoriensis Kuhl, 1820 – Timor flying dragon
- Draco volans Linnaeus, 1758 – common flying dragon
- Draco walkeri Boulenger, 1891
References
change- ↑ Herre, Albert W. (1958). "On the gliding of flying lizards, genus Draco". Copeia. 1958 (4): 338–339. doi:10.2307/1439979. JSTOR 1439979.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Piper, Ross 2007. Extraordinary animals: an encyclopedia of curious and unusual animals. Greenwood Press.
