Bailey James

Animal Biology
April 9, 2015
Bearded Dragons
A bearded dragon is a heavy-bodied and strikingly attractive Australian lizard. The
bearded dragon's scientific name is Pogona Vitticepsand. All are in the genus Pogona in the
family of Agamidae. Today, at least four of the eight species of these lizards are captive bred.
However, bearded dragons are naturally found in Australia's desert regions, generally in the
southeastern Northern Territory and the eastern half of South Australia. Their habitats included
woodlands, savannahs, and deserts. As a group, bearded dragons are arid-dwelling, heliothermic,
heat-tolerant lizards. Body temperatures of basking lizards may exceed 100 degrees fahrenheit.
Still, when surrounding temperatures drop, these cold-blooded dragons often become reclusive
and inactive. Although often seen on the ground, bearded dragons easily ascend trees, rocks and
boulders, fence posts, anthills, and other low-elevation positions to bask and display.
Compared to some lizards, bearded dragons do no seem particularly long lived. The max
age bearded dragons get in the wild is generally 4-6 years. Dragons shed a thick skin as they
grow until they reach maturity. Bearded dragons are typically medium sized lizards, ranging
from 12-24 inches in length from their head to the tip of their tail. The head is triangular shaped
and contains rows of spikes that resemble thorns. Beneath their head, the bearded dragon will
have rows of spiked scales which when puffed up resembles a beard. These scales can also
change colors, turning darker when threatened and/or used to attract females. The bearded
dragon is supported by four stout legs and they have well-muscled flat bodies with a row of
spikes that runs down each side of the abdomen.
Their tail is generally half the length of their body,
and unlike other lizards will not fall off and
regenerate when threatened. Dragons rely largely on
their eyes to sense what is around them. They have
good vision, with full color too. Since their eyes are
on the sides of their heads, they have a larger field
of vision than we do but their depth perception is
downright bad. This is why they often time their
leaps wrong and bonk into things. Another unique
sense that they have has to do with the parietal/third
eye. The parietal eye is located at the top of their heads, and you can see this as an oddly colored
scale in the center of the top of their heads. What this does is sense heat and shadows, and
possibly light. In the wild, this serves as a warning if one of their main predators, birds, are
swooping down at them. It is also possible it helps them to bask.
In appearance, these beautiful creatures come in a ray of colors. Varying from tan to gray
to brick red and usually blends well with the soils on which its found. Adult males tend to be
brighter in coloration. Broad, lighter paravertebral lines and some degree of dorsal blotching are
usually present, although older males may be nearly unicolored. Dragons are usually at their

most brilliant when at optimal body temperature, yet

readily change color when projecting visual defense
or as sexual display. When feeling defensive or
aggressive, they will flatten their bodies, gape their
mouths, hiss, and inflate their spiked skin beards. It is
difficult to distinguish males from females among
hatchlings. When they become adults, sexual
differences become more apparent. The males
generally have larger heads and larger, darker beards.
Also, the larger defined femoral pores on the males
underside help to distinguish them from females.
Bearded dragons are omnivorous lizards. In nature, these lizards eat insects, gastropodes,
and even pink mice, amounting from 40-75 percent of their diet being animal protein. However,
greenery, berries and other available fruits are also ingested. In captivity, dragons eat
mealworms, crickets, chopped vegetables and fruits of many kinds. Since water can usually be
pretty scarce in its environment, the bearded dragon rarely drinks from water sources but rather
metabolize much of their moisture requirements from the fresh food and plant material that they
eat.
Although normally territorial and solitary animals, a short time in spring during mating
season, bearded dragons come together to form small colonies. This is where they have probably
developed one of their most fascinating features; their body
language. They are know to inflate the flap of spiked skin under
their chin to show dominance. Bearded dragons will also bob their
heads to attract female attention. Another unique behavior is their
curious arm-waving called circumduction. Demonstrated by a slow
wave of one arm, almost as if saying hello, to show submissiveness
and willingness to mate. Some male dragons even restrict the
escape of a receptive female by biting the back of the females
neck. After courtship, females will dig rather extensive nesting burrows in preparation. All
bearded dragons are oviparous. That is, they reproduce by laying eggs. Their eggs have a pliable
and permeable parchmentlike shell. Depending on the species, a clutch may consist from 6 to
about 25 eggs. The gestation period for the eggs is about a month and a half. An adult female will
usually produce four to six clutches a year for the first several years of her life. After laid, the
eggs are left unattended to hatch and hopefully survive to adulthood.
In the wild, bearded dragons face a number of predators such as large birds of prey,
snakes, dingos, as well as introduced carnivores such as cats and foxes. They have even been
known be hosts to parasites such as protozoa, nematodes, protozoans, and trematodes. However,
these wild threats are becoming less of a factor; as bearded dragons, once seen as an entirely wild
species; today has grown to be known as one of the most popular breed of domestic lizards.
From their color-changing physical appearance to their beard-dropping displays of
dominance, bearded dragons are unique to say the least. Even more so, bearded dragons will not
mimic other bearded dragons, so their behavior is always genuine. So although these dragons
cannot fly, each beard displays individual personality and flare with even move they make.

Work Cited
Barlett, R.D and Patricia. Bearded Dragons. Barrons Publications. Pages 4-33. Book.

In loving remembrance of Spike