The mulga dragon (''Diporiphora amphiboluroides'') is a species of

agamid Agamidae is a family of over 300 species of iguanian lizards indigenous to Africa, Asia, Australia, and a few in Southern Europe. Many species are commonly called dragons or dragon lizards. Overview Phylogenetically, they may be sister to the ...

lizard found in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

. The species is up to 250 mm long, the length from snout to vent is 95 mm, with a long, slender tail that ends abruptly. The patterning over the legs and body is grey and brownish streaks. This provides an excellent camouflage on mulga trees, its usual habitat, it is also found beneath mulga leaf litter. ''Diporiphora amphiboluroides'' generally remains motionless and unobserved, this allows it to operate as an

ambush predator Ambush predators or sit-and-wait predators are carnivorous animals that capture or trap prey via stealth, luring or by (typically instinctive) strategies utilizing an element of surprise. Unlike pursuit predators, who chase to capture prey ...

and elude animals that would prey on it. It resembles another Western Australian species, the western bearded dragon ('' Pogona minor'').

References

* Diporiphora Reptiles of Western Australia Reptiles described in 1902 Taxa named by Arthur Henry Shakespeare Lucas Taxa named by Charles Frost (naturalist) Agamid lizards of Australia {{Australia-stub