The Australian water dragon ( Intellagama lesueurii , formerly Physignathus lesueurii ), which includes the eastern dragon ( I. Lueueurii and Gippsland water dragon ( IL Howittii ) subspecies, is an arboreal agamid species originating from eastern Australia from Victoria to north to Queensland. There may be a small population introduced on the southeastern coast of South Australia.
Video Australian water dragon
Etymology
The special name, lesueurii , is to honor the French naturalist Charles Alexandre Lesueur.
Maps Australian water dragon
Description
Australian water dragons have strong, long legs and claws to climb, long tail of muscular lateral compressed for swimming, and prominent nuchal and vertebral peaks. (Nuchal ravine is a row of spikes at the base of the head.These spikes continue down the spine, the smaller when it reaches the base of the tail.)
Including their tail, which comprises about two-thirds of its total length, adult females grow up to about 60 cm (2 feet), and adult males may grow slightly longer than one meter (3 feet) and weigh about 1 kg. Men show more bold colors and have bigger heads than women. Color is less different in adolescents.
Variations of species
The Australian water dragon is the only species of the genus Intellagama .
There are two subspecies; Intellagama lesueurii lesueurii (east water dragon) and me. l. howitti (Gippsland water dragon). me. l. lesueurii tends toward white, yellow and red in the throat and has a dark band behind his eyes; me. l. howitti does not have this and instead has a dark ribbon on both sides of his throat, which mixes with yellow, orange, or blue. Both subspecies are gray-green in overall color with black bands across their backs, tails, and legs. Water dragon slowly can change skin color to help camouflage. The skin will drip during the growth period.
Behavior
Australia's water dragons are very shy in the wild, but are ready to adapt to sustainable human existence in suburban parks and gardens. They are fast runners and powerful climbers. When confronted with potential predators, they seek refuge in thick vegetation, or fall from branches that jut out into the water. They can swim completely drowned, and rest at the bottom of a shallow tributary or lake for up to 90 minutes, to avoid detection.
Both men and women display typical agamid behaviors such as sunbathing, waving and swinging their heads. The fast arm-waving signal dominates, while the signal submission waves slowly. Men are territorial, and in areas with higher population density, males exhibit aggression against other men including attitude, chasing and fighting.
Breeding
Australian water dragons that live in cool Australia climate hibernate during the winter. During the spring, usually at the beginning of October, females dig burrows about 10-15 cm (3.9-5.9 inches) and are located between 6 and 18 eggs. These nests are usually in sandy or soft soil, in areas open to the sun. When the mother has laid her eggs, she replenished the room with dirt and spread the debris on it. The Australian water dragon shows the determination of sex depending on temperature; the sex of the hatchlings is determined by the temperature of the nest site.
When young are born they stay near the entrance of the burrow for some time before leaving the house. When they finally leave the nest, they tend to cluster away from the adult population.
Habitat
As the name suggests, the Australian water dragon is associated with water and semi-aquatic. It can be found near small rivers, rivers, lakes and other bodies of water that have sunbathing sites such as overhanging branches or rocks in the open or screened sun. This species is very common in parts of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens rainforest, Mount Coot-tha in Queensland, and monuments have been built for them there.
There are anecdotal reports of a small colony living on Sixth Creek in the Forest Range area of ​​South Australia, probably introduced there in the 1980s by local reptile enthusiasts. These are hundreds of miles beyond their natural reach.
Predators, threats and diet
The Australian water dragon is a prey of birds, snakes, cats, dogs and foxes. Nestlings and smaller teenage dragons are vulnerable to predation by kookaburras, currawong, butcherbirds and other carnivorous birds. They are also vulnerable to being killing paths because of the appeal of warm asphalt and concrete to sunbathe. The Australian water dragon diet depends on its size. Teenagers and older children tend to eat small insects such as ants, spiders, crickets, and caterpillars. As they get older, so does their prey. Adult diets include mice like baby rats, although insects are still the most commonly consumed.
Gallery
References
Further reading
- Boulenger GA. 1885. Catalog of Lizard at the British Museum (Natural History). Second edition. Volume I.... AgamidÃÆ'Â|... London: Superintendent of British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii 436 pp Plate I-XXXII. ( Physignathus lesueurii , pp. 398-399).
External links
- Australian water dragon in the Encyclopedia of Life
- Male Gippsland Water Dragon Video fighting on Youtube
- Australian National Botanical Gardens Research
- Maruyama, K.; Langkilde, T. (1999). " Physignathus lesueurii " (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) in 2008-07-27. Ã,
- " Physignathus lesueurii ". James Cook University - Discover Nature.
- Reptile Lamington National Park. " Physignathus lesueurii ".
- " Physignathus lesueurii howittii ". ozanimals.com.
- Physignathus lesueurii in Reptile.cz Reptile Database
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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