Oriental Garden Lizard

Fascinating facts about the Oriental Garden Lizard

• During the breeding months from May to early October the male oriental garden lizard displays a striking transformation: his head and shoulders blaze orange to crimson while the throat turns black, a continuation of the bright red throat it develops in this season. This vivid head-and-throat display is paired with throat inflation and push-up bouts that advertise his readiness to mate and warn other males.
• The oriental garden lizard normally shows a light brown-olive ground colour, but it can rapidly shift this to bright red, stark black, or a mixture that may cover the whole body and tail. Such colour changes are most pronounced in males during the breeding season, when the head and neck may be yellow with red highlights and the rest of the body turns vivid red, as noted by Jerdon.
• Unlike some other lizards, the oriental garden lizard never drops its tail; it remains very long, stiff and pointy throughout life. When threatened it darts to the nearest tree, then quickly climbs the side opposite the predator, disappearing into the branches before the threat can follow.
• The oriental garden lizard can swivel each eye independently, a trait it shares with chameleons. Like other reptiles, they shed their skins periodically as they grow.
• After a rain shower, dozens of oriental garden lizards descend to the ground to capture larvae and tiny insects that have fallen from the trees. Numbers of them are seen to come down on the ground and pick up the larva and small insects which fall from the trees during the showers. As an insectivore, this behaviour lets them exploit the sudden abundance of prey that rain brings.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Oriental Garden Lizard

As the sun rises over the lush vegetation, the Oriental Garden Lizard emerges, its iridescent scales glimmering like jewels as it basks in the warm light, its slender body swaying gently with each deliberate movement. With a flick of its long, whip-like tail, it darts through the undergrowth, its agile limbs propelling it with ease as it pursues its insect prey with stealthy precision. In this verdant world, the Oriental Garden Lizard reigns supreme, a vibrant and captivating creature that embodies the essence of tropical splendor.

Oriental Garden Lizard photographed on Feravox

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