The Nature LibraryEN·ES
iNat·31265SpeciesReptilia182 field observations
  1. Animals
  2. ›Chordates
  3. ›Vertebrates
  4. ›Reptiles
  5. ›Snakes and Lizards
  6. ›Lizards
  7. ›Iguanas and Allies
  8. ›Dragons and Chameleons
  9. ›Dragons
  10. ›Flying Dragons and Allies
  11. ›Calotes
Whistling Lizard
Plate 1 of 3. (c) Edward, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Edward · via iNaturalist

Whistling Lizard

Calotes liolepis

The whistling lizard or Sri Lanka agama (Calotes liolepis) is a species of lizard in the family Agamidae. It is one of seven Calotes species endemic to Sri Lanka.

Continue reading on Wikipedia

From the article Calotes liolepis on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section

§1

Description

Whistling lizards are able to camouflage, changing color from green to brown to match their environment. The species has a relatively long head and tail, the latter often double the length of its body. A series of spines on the nape make up the dorso-nuchal crest in males, while both males and females possess scales on the dorsum of the body. Ventral scales as large as those on its flanks. The forehead is pale brown, with pale inter-orbital bands, and the dorsum is pale gray with dark gray bands. The limbs and tail are similarly dark-banded.

§2

Range & habitat

Restricted to submontane forests below 100 m (330 ft), and found in forested areas and plantations. Widely distributed but frequently found in the central hills of Sri Lanka, including Knuckles, Kotmale, Sinharaja, Talawakele, Hanguranketha, Kanneliya, Galle, Kandy, Dambulla, Peradeniya, Namunukula, and Gampola.

Wikipedia: “Distribution”

§3

What it does

Unusual among agamid lizards is its habit of uttering a high-pitched whistle when alarmed. It feeds on insects and ants. Gravid females are seen between July–August.

Wikipedia: “Ecology”

§·

Where it lives

Recorded sightings

—

geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.

Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.

§·

In the stacks

Searching the stacks…

Every page naming Calotes liolepis in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →

This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 31265.