Field notes, v1753
Page 297
Image from the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Contributed by Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley. | www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Transcription
Stebbins, R. 1963 Draco volans Kapar Rd., 4 1/2 mi. NW Klang, Selangor, Malaya Feb. 9 Arrived at 11:00 a.m., overcast weather. The habitat here is a grove of coconut palms, ranging in height from 20 to 60 ft., mixed with nipah palms and tall grass (to 3-4 ft. high) in uncultivated patches. A number of native dwellings (on stilts) were present. The Draco were in a section where the palms were especially numerous and close together, thus providing easy gliding distances. We saw total of 4 or 5 individuals. They tended to remain above about 20 ft. on the taller palms, always headed upward. The general grayish tone of their bodies blended with the gray bark. One was seen within about 12 ft. of the ground when a palm frond from a nearby tree touched the trunk where the lizard perched. When an improvised bamboo pole was brought near, the lizards climbed upward and often to the opposite side of the trunk. However, they did not move when the pole was used to try to knock them to the ground, even when it came within 3 or 4 inches. The chunky rounded head with protruding eyes is held high and the bright lemon yellow dewlap is occasionally flicked forward when this lizard is alarmed. It is supported by a slender spike of cartilage.