BiologyCoachOnlineBlog

Last week's #MysteryCreature was the Frilled-neck Lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingii).

Chlamydosaurus kingii is the only member of the genus Chlamydosaurus and is found mainly in northern Australia and southern New Guinea. C. kingii is a relatively large lizard with an average length of about 32-inches (85cm). As its common name suggests, the frilled-neck lizard has a large frill around its neck (which the lizard usually keeps folded and against its body). C. kingii is predominantly arboreal and it feeds on insects and small vertebrates. Frilled-neck lizards are sexually dimorphic with adult males being larger than adult females. Breeding occurs in September and October (the rainy season in that part of the #biosphere) with males fighting for females. [Male lizards display their frills in order to look bigger as a way to intimidate competitors as well as predators.] Females lay their clutches of 6-25 eggs in a nest as much as 8-inches below ground. Incubation takes two or three months.