No flies on you guys. I put up a mystery “lizard”—note: not “anole”—with a beautiful white dewlap and the trademark diamondback pattern of a female anole, but few were fooled and it was quickly identified as the southeast Asian agamid lizard, Sitana ponticeriana. The dead giveaway—if you want to be technical—is the presence of only four toes on the hindfoot.
This species—or very possibly a complex of species—shows remarkable geographic variability in dewlap color. See the gorgeous red, black and blue one here. They’re even said to change color seasonally, from blue to white, but I’m not sure how well-established that is.
This photograph comes from J.N. Trivedi’s fascinating 2010 Master’s Dissertation entitled “Study of courtship behaviour of Fan – throated lizard Sitana ponticeriana in scrublands of Vadodara city Gujarat.”
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Rich Glor
Is the Trivedi thesis available as a PDF?
jignesh kumar trivedi
dear rich my thesis is not available on net but if you want it then send me your email id i will send you my papers and thesis pdf
Ambika Kamath
I’ve suggested to Jignesh Trivedi that he comment on this post so that people can get in touch with him directly about obtaining the PDF.
Harsimran Singh Aulakh
Res Trivedi sir
I am a reptile researcher from Punjab,I request you to kindly help me with your brilliant dissertation. Thanking you !