The Forest Dragons of Borneo

The Forest Dragons that i am referring to are reptiles from the beautiful lizard genus of Gonocephalus. The Gonocephalus are a medium-sized genus of a distinctive looking agamids distinguished by thier quite unique head shape, which gives them the scientific and common name of "Angleheads". As with other species from the agamidae family, these lizards have a unique ability to change colour which happens when the lizards mood changes and is also an an adaptation to camouflage from potential predators.

Most Gonocephalus lizards live in forested area from an elavation of 0 - 1600 metres a.s.l. The majority are found fairly high up in the trees, either clinging to vertical tree trunks or sitting on the end of thin branches. They are always found nearby to a source of running water mainly a stream.

Among some key characteristics of this genus are the following - body laterally flattened, has a throat and shoulder fold, a distinctive gular pouch and crest on its naped, fairly visible hearing organ or ear drum (tympanum) always present in both sexes, a rather triangular head, and a strong tail that unfortunately does not regenerate if broken.

This species of forest dragon is the Doria's Anglehead Lizard (Gonocephalus doriae). This species was found clinging on a tree trunk about 1 metre high from the ground in the rainforest of Kubah National Park in Sarawak along the waterfall trail.

Photo taken with a Nikon D300 + 16 - 85 mm lens on 5th August 2010.