Boyd’s Forest Dragon
Scientific Name: Lophosaurus boydii
Size: SVL 150mm, TL 500mm
What does it look like?
Boyd’s Forest Dragon is laterally compressed, angular head and body, with large, spiny nuchal crest, enlarged white scales on cheeks, ‘saw-like’, keeled vertebral scales, long, slender tail and long limbs. Boyd’s Forest Dragon is greyish-blue to olive-brown above, with obscure light and dark transverse barring, and blackish patch on sides of neck, bordered above and below by short white horizontal bars. Large, extendable, yellowish-orange throat-patch, with remaining underparts whitish to pale brown.
Where is it found?
Base of Cape York Peninsula, north-eastern Qld.
What are its habitats & habits?
Boyd’s Forest Dragon is found in rainforests and margins, where it is active during the day, feeding on invertebrates that are pounced on from perch in trees, as well as on some fruits and small vertebrates. Although largely arboreal, more commonly seen foraging on the ground. Oviparous, laying up to 4 clutches of 4–6 soft-shelled eggs in a year.
This species features in my book A Naturalist’s Guide to the Reptiles of Australia
