Rainforest reminiscences 6: The Amazon forest dragon

I still recall the first adult Amazon forest dragon, Enyalioides laticeps, that I ever encountered. Well after darkness had fallen, we were slowly walking on a forest trail. Lightning had been spearing the heavens for some time and the rumble of thunder was drawing closer.

Not yet familiar with the vagaries of rainforest storms, I wondered at the sudden rustling sounds in the canopy high overhead. "Rain," I was told, "the storm is here."

I learned that night that the trickle-down effect of even a hard rainfall can take a few minutes to penetrate the canopy, but penetrate it did, and within seconds we were all soaked. We decided to continue outward for another few minutes, then reverse and return to camp.

For some reason I wandered from the path and was "bush-whacking" when on a head-high limb I spied a lizard. It was about a foot long, bright green, and --and it looked like an immature green water dragon! What, I asked myself, could this be?

It took only a bit of research to learn the identity of the lizard. Despite the similarity in appearance, rather than being in the family Agamidae like the water dragon, the forest dragon is a member of the family Hoplocercidae.

On subsequent trips I found the Amazon forest dragon to be a common lizard that was frequently encountered sleeping soundly at night on trees and vines a few feet above the ground. It varied in color from green to a reticulated brown and green. It is now an eagerly sought target species on every tour.

More photos under the jump...

A juvenile Amazon forest dragon: An adult male Amazon forest dragon:

Author, photographer, and columnist Richard Bartlett is one of the most prolific writers on herpetological subjects in the 20th century. With hundreds of books and articles to their credit, Richard and his wife Pat have spent over four decades documenting reptiles both in the field and in captivity. For a list of their current titles, please visit their page in our bookstore.