Peter and Violet were heading down to Ingham yesterday when they came across a Boyd’s Forest Dragon (Lophosaurus boydii) in the middle of the road out near Graham Pope’s place.
The dragon wasn’t bothered by being the subject of an intense photo session, first by Peter and Violet, and after that by Jan and me when we got out there after a call from Peter and Violet.
It remained motionless even when we got down to take close-ups from only about 30cm away.
Adult male dragons are about 48cm and females around 42cm but this one was around 30-35cm and probably a juvenile.
L. boydii is restricted to rainforests and their margins in the wet tropics, from just north of Townsville to near Cooktown. It is found in both upland and lowland rainforest, and is often seen around Lake Eacham and Lake Barrine.
Unlike most other lizards, Boyd’s forest dragon does not bask in the sun, instead letting its body temperature fluctuate with air temperature thermoconforming rather than thermoregulating.
Boyd’s forest dragon spends the majority of its time perched on the trunks of trees, usually at around head height, although daily movements can exceed 100 m (330 ft) on the ground. After being motionless for maybe half an hour, it took a nudge with a stick to encourage it to get off the road. When it moved, it moved very fast, semi upright with front legs off the ground and back legs pedalling like crazy.
Thanks to Peter, Violet and Wikipedia.
Photos and text submitted by Peter Cooke
A beautiful narrative of this wonderful little fella.
Thank you