Frilled Lizard
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ID#19
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Classification: Reptile
Endangered Status: Common Habitat: dry, open woodlands scattered with trees, or, forests The frilled lizard is about 3 feet long including its long tail. Its body is pale brown or gray with patches of yellow, dark brown, or orange. In this species the male is bigger than the female. The frilled lizard can look ferocious if it chooses to, even though it is harmless. It has fangs, claws, and a big frill around its neck. The frill has cartilage rods to hold it up. When the frill is down, it folds like a cape on the lizard’s back. In the wet season the frilled lizard lives mostly on the ground and can be seen more often than in the dry season. In the dry season the lizard lives in trees for most of their day. The frilled lizard will generally live alone. Also the frilled lizard is diurnal, which means it is awake during the day, like humans. A frilled lizard has many kinds of meals, but its food has to be meat because it’s a carnivore. They will eat ants, spiders, other bugs, and small mammals. Also eggs are on the menu. A baby frilled lizard is called a hatchling. The frilled lizard reproduces in the early to mid, wet season which is, September and October. To get a mate, a frilled lizard will display their frill and bite one another. After a male gets a mate the female lays eggs. 1 or 2 clutches of 8 to 23 eggs are laid. The incubation will take 2 to 3 months. Incubation takes place 5 to 20 centimeters underground in sunny areas. Once the eggs hatch the lizard will live up to 20 years! Because of the frilled lizard’s unique appearance and behaviors, it has appeared in many shows. One example is in Jurassic Park. This was not an frilled lizard though, the producers just took its appearance of the lizard and modified it into a dinosaur. Also the frilled lizard made an appearance after Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Also frilled lizards thermo regulate. That means it basks in the sun soaking up heat to sustain a regular body temperature. That is why if you see a frilled lizard it may just be sitting there, soaking up the sun. If you get too close to a frilled lizard it may open its frill and hiss, even though it is harmless. Then it will scamper up the nearest tree. |