flying lizard
n.
Any of various small tropical Asian lizards of the genus Draco, having winglike membranes on each side that may be spread to enable it to glide through the air. Also called flying dragon.
|
Results for flying lizard
|
On this page:
|
Any of various small tropical Asian lizards of the genus Draco, having winglike membranes on each side that may be spread to enable it to glide through the air. Also called flying dragon.
Draco volans
SUBFAMILY
Agaminae
TAXONOMY
Draco volans Linnaeus, 1758, Java, Indonesia.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
None known.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
These are slender, long-legged, small lizards with folding ribs that expand to form a winglike structure. At rest, these dermal sails are folded along the body, giving the lizards a slim appearance.
DISTRIBUTION
The species inhabits the Indonesian islands, including Borneo, Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Timor. They also occur in Thailand, western Malaysia, and the Philippines.
HABITAT
Their habitat is open forests and dense rainforests of both lowlands and highlands.
BEHAVIOR
With their "wings" extended, these long-tailed, lightly built agamids glide gracefully between trees, losing altitude along the way. When gliding, these delicate, slender lizards use their tails to steer and sometimes can travel as far as 55 yd (50 m). Expert hang gliders, they rise up and stall at exactly the right moment to make a gentle landing. Upon landing on an adjacent tree, with the head up, they scamper up the tree, gaining elevation in preparation for their next flight. When on the ground, flying lizards are clumsy and vulnerable to predators.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
The species feeds almost exclusively on ants and termites.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Wings of males and females are of different colors, which allows these lizards to identify the sex of another at a distance. Males defend territories, courting females by extending their brightly colored throat dewlap appendages, much like anoles do in the New World. Females lay one to four eggs. Their unusual eggs are elongated and spindle-shaped, with dense calcium carbonate "caps" at each end. The function of the caps has not been studied, but they could be deposits for developing embryos.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.
The noun has one meaning:
Meaning #1:
any of several small tropical Asian lizards capable of gliding by spreading winglike membranes on each side of the body
Synonyms: dragon, flying lizard
The Flying Lizards were a British experimental rock group that recorded several albums.
Formed by and led by David Cunningham, the group included avant-garde and free improvising musicians, such as David Toop and Steve Beresford as instrumentalists, plus Deborah Evans and Patti Palladin as main vocalists. It also boasted Michael Upton.
The group released an album entitled The Flying Lizards in 1979; their singles include the postmodern cover versions of songs such as Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" (1978) and James Brown's "Sex Machine" (1984), as well as several originals. Their album Top Ten consists entirely of covers, done in a deliberately emotionless, harsh and robotic style. Their version of Barrett Strong's "Money" remains popular, and was used in the film soundtracks for The Wedding Singer, Empire Records, Charlie's Angels and Lord of War, as well as in the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning American television medical drama, Nip/Tuck.
After the band's break-up, a posthumous album of dub instrumentals, The Secret Dub Life of the Flying Lizards, appeared.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Join the WikiAnswers Q&A community. Post a question or answer questions about "flying lizard" at WikiAnswers.
Copyrights:
![]() | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | Animal Encyclopedia. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Copyright © 2005 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more | |
![]() | WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "The Flying Lizards". Read more |
Mentioned In:
Related Topics