REPTILIA: SQUAMATA: AGAMIDAE: Chlamydosaurus

Chlamydosaurus kingii Gray, 1825

Frilled lizard

Photos & text by Dr. Robert George Sprackland. At right, a yellowish specimen photographed at the Australian Reptile Park.

Range: Northern tropical Australia, and southern lowland New Guinea in dry forests.

Diagnosis: An unmistakable lizard, this is the only known species with a large leathery frill.

Description: Head covered with small, pebble-like scales. A large, thin ruff forms a frill supported by thin bones. In adults, the frill may extend back to the hips. Moveable eyelids and external ear openings are present. Femoral and preanal pores present, generally much larger in males. Males grow larger and have more robust heads than females.

19th Century illustration from the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London

Natural History: Frilled lizards are arboreal species typically found on tree trunks. They live in the  hot and drier northern forests of Australia, and though often filmed in open areas are actually very rarely found away from the trees. Inhabited trees must be hollow, or have a large enough cavity to provide shelter. Though abundant in the wet season, they virtually disappear during the dry time of year.

Frilled lizards are able to run bipedally (= on the hind legs) for a considerable distance, a habit which has earned this species the nickname “bicycling lizard.” Recent research has shown that the frill is used primarily for intraspecific communication and as a threat to frighten potential predators. 

Reproduction: Egg layers. Juveniles have tiny frills.

Taxonomy & Relationships: Chlamydosaurus comes from the Greek words meaning "frilled lizard."

Variation: This species is highly variable in color, with individuals ranging from yellowish to brown to black above. 

Shown at right is an elaborately patterned frilled lizard from Giringarande, Papua New Guinea. The lizards are fairly common in the fields where crops are grown, in habitat that is swampy most of the year. Collected by Nuwo Tomo, June 2000.

Additional Comments: This species is becoming increasingly common in herpetoculture, as it is rather easy to breed in captivity. Virtually all commercially available specimens are from New Guinea populations, as Australian animals are protected by law and export from Australia is totally prohibited.

Type Specimen: BMNH.

Literature:  Click on Book to Order

Aresté, M. and J. L. Farriols. 1999. Chlamydosaurus kingii. Reptilia 7: 39-42.

Cogger, Harold. 1995. Reptiles and amphibians of Australia. 5th edition. Ralph Curtis Books.

Ehmann, Harald. 1992. Encyclopedia of Australian animals: Reptiles. Angus & Robertson.

Greer, Allen. 1989. The biology & evolution of Australian lizards. Surrey Beatty & Sons.

Harlow, Peter and Richard Shine. 1999. Temperature-dependent sex determination in the frillneck lizard, Chlamydosaurus kingii (Agamidae). Herpetologica 55:205-

Hoser, Raymond. 1989. Australian reptiles & frogs. Pierson & Co. ISBN: 0-947068-08-2.

Reisinger, Manfred. 1992. Chlamydosaurus kingii Gray, 1825, husbandry and breeding of the Australian frilled lizard. Sauria, the English Edition 1(3): 21-23.

Shine, Richard. 1990. Function and evolution of the frill of the frillneck lizard, Chlamydosaurus kingii (Sauria: Agamidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 40: 11-20.

Sprackland, Robert. 1992. Giant Lizards. TFH Publications.

Wilson, Stephen and David Knowles. 1988. Australia's Reptiles: a photographic reference to the terrestrial reptiles of Australia. Collins.