Tag Archives: Southern Angle-headed Dragon

Cryptic dragon

A Southern Angle-headed Dragon (Hipsilures spinipes), photographed at the Goomburra section of Main Range National Park.

Southern Angle-headed Dragon, Main Range National Park.

The Southern Angle-headed Dragon is found in sub-tropical rainforests in south-eastern Queensland north to the Gympie area and in northern New South Wales. This small, well-camouflaged reptile likes to perch on the trunks of trees where light penetrates to the forest floor, such as at edges of creeks and tracks. Southern Angle-headed Dragons eat insects and arthropods, such as centipedes and spiders. In December, females lay up to seven eggs in shallow nests in clearings, and there is evidence of communal nesting. Photo R. Ashdown.

 An earlier blog post on rainforest dragons.

Dripping Dragons

Reproduction of a small article I wrote for the NatureWatch section of the Summer 2012 edition of Wildlife Australia, the magazine of the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland.

Australia is a land blessed with dragons — lizards of the family Agamidae — with at least 75 species, mostly in arid-to-dry tropical areas. Queensland has a great variety of these wonderful reptiles, although only two are found in rainforests.

Boyd's Forest Dragon

Boyd’s Forest Dragon. Photos R. Ashdown

The spectacular Boyd’s Forest Dragon (Hypsilurus boydii) inhabits Queensland’s northern wet tropics. Both temperature and mood influence a male dragon’s features. Warm summers, the time for courtship and mating, bring on displays of their brightest colours and patterns. The female digs a burrow to lay her parchment-shelled eggs.

At the southern end of the State, Australia’s only other rainforest dragon species is also active, in its own cautious, cryptic way. The smaller, similarly camouflaged Southern Angle-headed Dragon (H. spinipes) warms itself in morning patches of sunlight while clinging motionless to saplings and the buttresses of larger trees.

Southern angle-headed dragon, Goomburra NP.

Southern Angle-headed Dragon, Goomburra National Park.

Southern Angle-headed Dragon

Southern Angle-headed Dragon, Goomburra National Park.