Ctenophorus maculosus

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Ctenophorus maculosus
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Agamidae
Genus: Ctenophorus
Species:
C. maculosus
Binomial name
Ctenophorus maculosus
Ctenophorus maculosus distribution.png
Synonyms
  • Tympanocryptis maculosa
    F.J. Mitchell, 1948
  • Amphibolurus maculosus
    — Cogger, 1983
  • Ctenophorus maculosus
    — Cogger, 2000 [2]

Ctenophorus maculosus, commonly known as the Lake Eyre dragon or salt-lake ground-dragon, is a species of agamid lizard endemic to South Australia. C. maculosus mainly inhabits the edges of salt lakes in South Australia, from which its common names are derived. It survives in this harsh habitat through adaptive mechanisms to tolerate high temperatures and lack of free water. [3] The female C. maculosus possesses unique male rejection techniques which are currently the focus of further research. [4] [5]

Contents

Description

C. maculosus can be identified by a white to pale grey dorsal surface with black blotches and a white ventral surface with a dark longitudinal dark streak. Black and brown spots are observed throughout its body. This cryptic coloration allows the species to blend into the salt surface it inhabits, and color variations are found depending on the specific population's environment. The adult male is about 11.5 cm (4.5 in) long (including tail), and the adult female is slightly shorter at 10.0 cm (3.9 in). C. maculosus possesses small, sunken eyes protected by serrated eyelids and eye linings. Its nostrils are connected to its nasal cavity by only a narrow downward slit. This nasal structure is adaptive for preventing nasal blockage from burrowing in sand. Other sand-burrowing American lizards have also developed similar nasal structures via convergent evolution, including species in the genera Uracentron , Holbrookia , and Phrynosoma . [3] [5]

Distribution and habitat

C. maculosus is endemic to the three largest dry salt lakes of inner South Australia (Lake Eyre, Lake Callabonna, and Lake Torrens), with the densest population found in Lake Eyre. [3] [5] Three habitat characteristics characterize its distribution: a surface crust, a thick layer of dry sand or clay under the crust, and a constant source of humidity. This dragon lizard inhabits the edges of the lakes where it burrows in the damp sediments under the salt crust. [3]

Diet

The main food source for C. maculosus is the harvest ant Melophorus . The nest-mounds of these ants provide an additional benefit to the dragon lizard as lookout points, basking sites, and sources of shade. C. maculosus is an opportunistic feeder, also feeding on other insects trapped on the salt surface. [3]

Behavior

Adaptations

C. maculosus has developed behavioral mechanisms of avoiding environmental stresses in a similar fashion to desert-adapted animals. It uses various postures and movements to maintain an optimal body temperature. Its physiology has also adapted to the lack of free water by having a low evaporation rate, thus reducing water loss from the body. [3]

Flooding response

When C. maculosus is forced to the beach surface by flooding, it changes color to a deeper grey with more numerous black and brown spots to match the pebbly beach sands. It also appears to show greater muscle coordination and the body inflates, which helps the dragon lizard float on the surface of the water. [3]

Sexual behavior

The male C. maculosus is highly aggressive and attempts to force copulation with females by repeated harassment. Male harassment behavior can include chasing, biting, and pinning the female to the ground. On occasion, the male may injure or kill the female with which he is attempting to copulate by his mating grasp. The female employs three main rejection strategies to protect herself: fleeing from the male, performing a threat display, or flipping over on her back to prevent copulation. This last behavior is unique to C. maculosus and one species of insect. The female develops a bright orange color on her throat when she is reproductively receptive. In threat display and flipping-over rejection, the female reveals her throat to communicate rejection to the male. [5] Oviposition results in significant declines in steroid levels, a fading of color from the throat, and an increase in rejection behavior. [4]

Related Research Articles

Agamidae Family of lizards

Agamidae is a family of over 300 species of iguanian lizards indigenous to Africa, Asia, Australia, and a few in Southern Europe. Many species are commonly called dragons or dragon lizards.

<i>Ctenophorus</i> Genus of lizards

Ctenophorus is a genus of lizards, also known as comb-bearing dragons, that contains the most diverse group of dragon lizards in Australia. It is the largest group of Australian lizards and it has an extensive radiation in the arid zones. Many of these have been grouped by a similar morphology. The informal names and groupings within this genus — rock, crevice-, ground, sand-, and bicycle-dragon — are named after the mythological creature, the dragon.

<i>Tympanocryptis</i> Genus of lizards

Tympanocryptis is a genus of Australian lizards in the family Agamidae commonly known as earless dragons.

Central bearded dragon Species of lizard

The central bearded dragon, also known as the inland bearded dragon, is a species of agamid lizard found in a wide range of arid to semiarid regions of eastern and central Australia. It is the most popularly kept pet reptile, and often exhibited in zoos.

Namaqua chameleon Species of lizard

The Namaqua chameleon is a ground-living lizard found in the western desert regions of Namibia, South Africa and southern Angola.

Central netted dragon Species of lizard

The central netted dragon or central netted ground dragon, Ctenophorus nuchalis, is a species of agamid lizard occurring in a wide range of arid to semiarid regions of Australia. It is widespread across the continent, commonly found in open, sandy, desert habitats. It is a popular pet and can often be found in zoos.

<i>Ctenophorus pictus</i> Species of lizard

Ctenophorus pictus, commonly known as the painted ground-dragon or painted dragon, is a species of lizard from the family Agamidae. It is endemic to the drier areas of southern and central Australia.

Sexual selection in scaled reptiles

Sexual selection in scaled reptiles studies how sexual selection manifests in snakes and lizards, which constitute the order Squamata of reptiles. Each of the over three thousand snakes use different tactics in acquiring mates. Ritual combat between males for the females they want to mate with includes topping, a behavior exhibited by most viperids in which one male will twist around the vertically elevated fore body of its opponent and forcing it downward. It is common for neck biting to occur while the snakes are entwined.

<i>Ctenophorus fionni</i> Species of lizard

Ctenophorus fionni, also known as the peninsula dragon, Arcoona rock dragon or peninsula crevice-dragon, is a species of agamid lizard occurring only in South Australia.

<i>Ctenophorus decresii</i> Species of lizard

Ctenophorus decresii, commonly as tawny dragon or tawny crevice-dragon, is a species of lizard in the family Agamidae. The species is endemic to Australia.

The Gibber earless dragon, also known as the smooth-snouted earless dragon, is a species of agamid lizard endemic to Australia. It is one of 15 documented species of the genus Tympanocryptis, a group of small terrestrial lizards that feed off invertebrates and are characterised by the absence of an external ear structure.

Mallee military dragon Species of lizard

The mallee military dragon, also commonly known as the mallee dragon or mallee sand-dragon, is a species of agamid lizard occurring in the arid parts of southern Australia. The mallee military dragon's specific name, fordi was named after Dr. Julian Ralph Ford (1932-1987). Dr. Ford was an ornithologist, herpetologist and chemist who worked at the Western Australian Museum. He collected the lizard holotype and many of the paratypes.

Ctenophorus gibba, commonly known as the bulldust ground-dragon or gibber dragon, is a species of agamid lizard occurring in the sparsely vegetated gibber plains of northern South Australia.

<i>Ctenophorus isolepis</i> Species of lizard

Ctenophorus isolepis, commonly known as the central military dragon, military dragon or military sand dragon, is a species of agamid lizard occurring in the arid parts of central and western Australia.

<i>Ctenophorus rubens</i> Species of lizard

Ctenophorus rubens, commonly known as the reddening sand-dragon or rufus sand dragon, is a species of agamid lizard occurring in the arid sandy areas of shrublands and spinifex of the Exmouth Gulf and the adjacent interior of Western Australia, with an isolated population also occurring in the sand dunes south of Hamelin Pool, Western Australia. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of C. isolepis.

Ctenophorus clayi, commonly known as the black-collared dragon or black-shouldered ground-dragon, is a species of agamid lizard occurring in red sand-ridges with spinifex in the central and western deserts of Australia, with an isolated population existing in North West Cape in Western Australia.

Ctenophorus femoralis, the long-tailed sand dragon, is a species of agamid lizard occurring on spinifex covered sand-ridges and sand-plains on the arid mid-western coast of Western Australia.

Ctenophorus maculatus, commonly known as the spotted military dragon, spotted dragon, or spotted sand-dragon is a species of agamid lizard occurring in semi-arid to arid shrublands and hummock grasslands of Western Australia and a small part of South Australia.

Ctenophorus nguyarna, commonly known as the Lake Disappointment dragon is a species of agamid lizard occurring in low samphire shrubs fringing the remote Lake Disappointment in Western Australia.

<i>Ctenophorus salinarum</i> Species of lizard

Ctenophorus salinarum, commonly known as the claypan dragon or saltpan ground-dragon is a species of agamid lizard occurring in arid to semi-arid chenopod shrublands around salt lakes and claypans and in adjacent sandy heaths in southern Western Australia.

References

  1. ↑ Cogger, H.; Hutchinson, M. & Melville, J. (2017). "Ctenophorus maculosus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T170385A83322303. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T170385A83322303.en .
  2. ↑ The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mitchell FJ (1973). "Studies on the ecology of the agamid lizard – Amphibolurus maculosus (Mitchell)". Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia. 97 (1): 47–76.
  4. 1 2 Jessop TS, Chan R, Stuart-Fox D (2009). "Sex steroid correlates of female-specific colouration, behavior and reproductive state in Lake Eyre dragon lizards, Ctenophorus maculosus". Journal of Comparative Physiology A. 195 (7): 619–630. doi:10.1007/s00359-009-0437-4. S2CID   22692802.
  5. 1 2 3 4 McLean CA, Stuart-Fox D (2010). "Do female Lake Eyre dragon lizards adjust courtship rejection behavior under higher predation risk?". Behaviour. 147 (13–14): 1803–1818. doi:10.1163/000579510x537378.

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