Image from the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
Contributed by Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley.
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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.