Pogona vitticeps

Central Bearded Dragon at Acton, ACT

Request use of media

Identification history

	Pogona vitticeps	11 Jan 2022	MichaelMulvaney
	Pogona vitticeps	11 Jan 2022	wombey

Identify this sighting

Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.

11 comments

BrianLR wrote:

8 Jan 2022

looks more like vitticeps to me. Maybe an escaped/released pet?

TimL wrote:

9 Jan 2022

Hi Brian. The scale pattern on its body looked different to the Bearded Dragons I've seen at ANBG and recorded on CNM. It's head bobbing behaviour was similar to other Bearded Dragons but it did however keep moving towards three of us as we watched it, something that I haven't seen before. There was no open mouth threat display, just the head bobbing. It got to within a metre of us before we moved on. Tim

wombey wrote:

9 Jan 2022

Will, I think think Brian might be right, this looks like vitticeps to me too. The lateral line of spines and the almost straight row of spines across the top of the head seem to point in that direction. Is it worth a second look? I must admit, I let it past as barbata on first viewing.

WillO wrote:

9 Jan 2022

A great set of photos for us to work from, but one more photo of head and neck from above would have helped. I also would have ticked it off as a barbata so thanks Brian for the double checking. I agree it might be a released/escaped vitticeps or a hybrid. According to Melville and Wilson (Dragon Lizards of Australia) vitticeps characters would be head broad and triangular when viewed from above (moderately narrow in barbata) (I dont think we can check that without a photo from above?), spines across rear of head in transverse straight line (seem to be but not overly clear in the photos i am seeing), round beard (squarish in pogona) (would need a photo of enlarged beard), spines along flanks arranged regularly (versus irregularly in pogona) (seem to be all large and regular like vitticeps), lacks bands of enlarged scales on base of tail (yes from what i can see - John if you have a sharply focused image might be able to check that) (versus pogona has bands of large scales separated by bands of smaller scales).

TimL wrote:

9 Jan 2022

@WillO there are ten images in the set of photos I took. I'll upload the other five photos and link them to this sighting 4416498 if that helps. You are also welcome to the original full size high def images if you want me to email them to you. Hope this helps. Tim

TimL wrote:

10 Jan 2022

Additional images have been added to sighting 4417613 to help with identification.

WillO wrote:

10 Jan 2022

Thanks very much Tim for the extra photos.
I can see wear on the front of the snout - a feature that you often see in captive individuals because they will repeatedly rub their snouts on the glass sides of the terrariums or enclosures as they try to escape.

Would you email me (use: will.osborne@canberra.edu.au) the single high res image showing the lizard side on - It is image : 4416498_4416498-3-W800-H600.jpg

Hopefully then we can see more clearly if it has spines along flanks arranged regularly (versus irregularly ie not in regular ordered rows and uneven in size in pogona) and whether it lacks bands of enlarged scales on base of tail (which I now suspect it has).

The view of the back of the head spine row is now clearer and although it seems to be a straight row (as in vitticeps) the row does not contact the row of spines from behind the eye to the ear (making the character unclear and more like barbata).

Thanks again, Will

wombey wrote:

11 Jan 2022

Will, I am 99.9% happy it is vitticeps. The head scales and lateral scales fit and after a revisit to some other CNM images of barbata, I can't for the life of me see any rows of enlarged scales at the base of tail (obvious in some barbata images)

WillO wrote:

11 Jan 2022

I have now received a photo emailed from Tim that has a clearer side-on photo of the dragon from the ANBG. I can see now that the lizard doesn't seem to have bands of enlarged scales on the tail base - despite the colour banding the scales all seem to be similar in size. I also think now after seeing this photo that the spines along the lower flanks are in a relatively even row and the spines are all about the same size. Combined with what looks like a straight line of spines on the back of top of head (as noted earlier by John) that make it very likely to be a vitticeps. I think we should go ahead and accept it as a P. vitticeps.

TimL wrote:

11 Jan 2022

Thanks to all of you for the considerable effort in identifying this dragon. Tim

wombey wrote:

11 Jan 2022

I agree, vitticeps needs to be included in the dragon list

Please Login or Register to comment.