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REPTILIA:
SQUAMATA: AGAMIDAE: Acanthosaura
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Acanthosaura
crucigera Boulenger, 1885
Mountain Horned Lizard.
Photos & text by Dr. Robert Sprackland.
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Range: Southeastern Asia,
including forested areas of Vietnam, Burma, Thailand, and northern
Malaya.
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Diagnosis: A rough-scaled
lizard with a broad black triangular collar bordered anteriorly by
white that reaches the lips and the entire throat. There is a broad
black mask over the eyes. The nuchal crest is interrupted at the
nape.
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Description: Body short, laterally compressed. Head round, with acute
canthus rostralis. Two prominent large spines above each ear.
Another long pair of spines over and slightly behind eyes. Large
triangular spines along spine. Tail slightly longer than body, and
distinctly thin. Limbs long and thin, each with five long digits and
sharp claws. Hind limbs much longer than front pair. Head olive above, white on sides and throat. Eyes with
large triangular black mask. Body variegated with black, olive,
yellow and whitish markings. Nuchal region black, forming thin black
collar that encircles neck.
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History: This is a slow-moving,
generally benign species that typically spends days perched on
vertical tree trunks. They feed upon insects, such as ants and
termites, that travel trails up and down the trunk, but also take
moths, stick insects, and other small animals as possible. Though
generally peaceful, males (with longer spines than females) may
fight with and damage each other.
As captives they are delicate and should
rarely be handled. As sit-and-wait predators, they can rarely be
induced to run quickly, and thus rely upon camouflage for protection.
Lifespan 3-5 years. Below is a photo of a
captive hatched horned dragon. Photo by Cheyenne Day.
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Reproduction: Egg
layers, laying 10-12 small round eggs per clutch.
This is a hatchling Acanthosaura
in the collection of hobbyist Cheyenne Day.
Though this species is common in the pet trade, captive breedings
are rare. Photo
courtesy of Cheyenne Day.
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Taxonomy & Relationships:
This is a member of the tree lizard group that includes bloodsuckers
(Calotes), garden lizards (Japalura), and angel headed
dragons (Gonocephalus).
Acanthosaura comes from Greek words meaning "spined
lizard," and "crucigera" is Latin for "
cross-bearer," in reference to the cross-shaped nuchal marking.
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Holotype: In London, BMNH,
type locality Tavoy, Tenasserim (=Burma).
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Literature: Click on a book to order a copy
Chan-ard, Tanya, Wolfgang Grossman, Andreas
Gumprecht and Klaus-Dieter Schulz. 1999. Amphibians and reptiles
of peninsular Malaysia and Thailand, an illustrated checklist.
In English & German. Bushmaster Publications. ISBN:
3-9806813-0-0.
Henkel,
F-W. and Wolfgang Schmidt. 1997. Agamen im Terrarium.
Landbuch Verlag, Hannover. ISBN: 3-7842-0461-9.
Manthey, Ulrich and Wolfgang Grossman.
1997. Amphibien & Reptilien Südostasiens. In German.
Natur und Tier Verlag. ISBN: 3-931587-12-6.
Manthey, Ulrich and Norbert Schuster. 1996.
Agamid lizards. TFH Publications. ISBN: 0-7938-0128-1.
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