''Ctenophorus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia al ...

s, commonly known as comb-bearing dragons, in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Agamidae 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 ...

. The genus contains the most diverse group of dragon lizards in Australia. It is the largest group of Australian lizards and it has an extensive radiation in the arid zones. Many of the

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

of ''Ctenophorus'' have been grouped by a similar

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

. The informal names and groupings within this genus — rock dragon, crevice-dragon, ground-dragon, sand-dragon, and bicycle-dragon — are named after the mythological creature, the dragon. Lizards in the genus ''Ctenophorus'' may be confused with lizards in the

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial ...

Tympanocryptis ''Tympanocryptis'' is a genus of Australian lizards in the family Agamidae commonly known as earless dragons. Description The genus ''Tympanocryptis'' has the following characters. The tympanum is hidden (hence the common name earless dragon). ...

'' and ''

Diporiphora ''Diporiphora'' is a genus of lizards in the family Agamidae. Most species in the genus are endemic to Australia, but two (''D. australis'' and ''D. bilineata'') are also found in New Guinea. Species The genus includes these 28 species which ...

''. Swan G, Shea G, Sadlier R (2004) ''A Field Guide to Reptiles of New South Wales''. Sydney, New South Wales: Reed New Holland. .

Species

There are 34 recognized

in the genus. *'' Ctenophorus adelaidensis'' (

Gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed ...

, 1841) – western heath dragon *''

Ctenophorus butlerorum ''Ctenophorus butlerorum'', also known commonly as Butler's dragon, the Shark Bay heath dragon Wilson, Steve; Swan, Gerry (2013). ''A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia, Fourth Edition''. Sydney, New South Wales: New Holland Publishers. 5 ...

'' (

Storr Storr is a surname of Old Scandinavian origin, and may refer to * Anthony Storr (1920–2001), English psychiatrist and author * Catherine Storr (1913–2001), English novelist and children's writer * Farrah Storr (born 1978), British journalist ...

, 1977) – Butler's dragon, Shark Bay heath dragon, Edel heath dragon *''

Ctenophorus caudicinctus ''Ctenophorus caudicinctus'', commonly known as the ring-tailed dragon or ring-tailed bicycle-dragon is a native species of agamid lizard occurring in rocky ranges and outcrops of Australia. ''Ctenophorus caudicinctus'' is most commonly found in ...

'' ( Günther, 1875) – ring-tailed bicycle-dragon, ring-tailed dragon *'' Ctenophorus chapmani'' (Storr, 1977) – Chapman's dragon, southern heath dragon, Bight heath dragon *'' Ctenophorus clayi'' (Storr, 1967) – black-shouldered ground-dragon, black-collared dragon *'' Ctenophorus cristatus'' (Gray 1841) – crested bicycle-dragon, crested dragon, bicycle dragon *''

Ctenophorus decresii ''Ctenophorus decresii'', also known commonly as the tawny dragon or the tawny crevice-dragon, is a species of lizard in the family Agamidae. The species is endemic to Australia. The average snout-to-vent length (SVL) of the species is with ...

'' ( A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1837) – tawny crevice-dragon, tawny dragon *'' Ctenophorus femoralis'' (Storr, 1965) – long-tailed sand-dragon *''

Ctenophorus fionni ''Ctenophorus fionni'', also known as the peninsula dragon, Arcoona rock dragon or peninsula crevice-dragon, is a species of agamid lizard occurring only in South Australia. Etymology The specific name, ''fionni'', is in honor of someone calle ...

'' ( Procter, 1923) – Peninsula crevice-dragon, Peninsula dragon *''

Ctenophorus fordi The Mallee dragon (''Ctenophorus fordi)'', also commonly known as the Mallee dragon and the Mallee sand-dragon, is a species of lizard in the family Agamidae. The species is native to the arid parts of southern Australia. Etymology The Mall ...

'' (Storr, 1965) – Mallee dragon, Mallee sand-dragon, Mallee military dragon *''

Ctenophorus gibba ''Ctenophorus gibba'', commonly known as the bulldust ground-dragon or gibber dragon,Cogger, H. (2000) ''Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia'', Reed New Holland, Sydney, New South Wales, Wilson, S., Swan, G. (2013) ''A Complete Guide to Reptiles ...

'' (

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

, 1974) – Bulldust ground-dragon, gibber dragon *'' Ctenophorus graafi'' (Storr, 1967) – Graaf's dragon *''

Ctenophorus infans ''Ctenophorus infans'', the Laverton ring-tailed dragon, is a species of agamid lizard occurring around Laverton and the Mount Margaret Goldfield of Western Australia. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of ''Ctenophorus caudicinctus ...

'' (Storr, 1967) – Laverton ring-tailed dragon *'' Ctenophorus isolepis'' (

Fischer Fischer is a German occupational surname, meaning fisherman. The name Fischer is the fourth most common German surname. The English version is Fisher. People with the surname A * Abraham Fischer (1850–1913) South African public official * ...

, 1881) – central military dragon *'' Ctenophorus maculatus'' (Gray, 1831) – spotted military dragon, spotted dragon, spotted sand-dragon *''

Ctenophorus maculosus ''Ctenophorus maculosus'', commonly known as the Lake Eyre dragon or salt-lake ground-dragon, is a species of agamid lizard endemic to South Australia. ''C. maculosus'' mainly inhabits the edges of salt lakes in South Australia, from which i ...

'' ( F.J. Mitchell, 1948) – Lake Eyre dragon, salt-lake ground-dragon *''

Ctenophorus mckenziei ''Ctenophorus mckenziei'', more commonly known as the dwarf-bicycle dragon, is a species of endemic Australian lizard within the family Agamidae and genus Ctenophorus. Originally identified as the agamid ''Amphibolurus mckenziei'', the lizard h ...

'' (Storr, 1981) – dwarf bicycle-dragon, McKenzie's dragon *'' Ctenophorus mirrityana'' (

McLean MacLean, also spelt Maclean and McLean, is a Gaelic surname Mac Gille Eathain, or, Mac Giolla Eóin in Irish Gaelic), Eóin being a Gaelic form of Johannes (John). The clan surname is an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic "Mac Gille Eathain" ...

et al., 2013) – Barrier Range dragon *''

Ctenophorus modestus ''Ctenophorus modestus'' is a species of agamid lizard occurring in South Australia. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of ''Ctenophorus decresii''. References Agamid lizards of Australia modestus Modestus was a Roman cognom ...

'' ( Ahl, 1926) *'' Ctenophorus nguyarna'' ( Doughty, Maryan, Melville & J. Austin, 2007) – Lake Disappointment dragon *'' Ctenophorus nuchalis'' ( De Vis, 1884) – central netted dragon, central netted ground-dragon *'' Ctenophorus ornatus'' (Gray, 1845) – ornate dragon, ornate crevice-dragon *''

Ctenophorus parviceps ''Ctenophorus parviceps'', commonly known as the Gnaraloo heath dragon or northwestern heath dragonWilson, S., Swan, G. (2013) ''A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia'', New Holland Publishers, Sydney, New South Wales, is a species of ag ...

'' (Storr, 1964) – Gnaraloo heath dragon, northwestern heath dragon *''

Ctenophorus pictus ''Ctenophorus pictus'', commonly known as the painted ground-dragon or painted dragon,Waite ER (Editor). (1929). ''The Reptiles and Amphibians of South Australia''. Adelaide: Government Printer. 270 pp. is a species of lizard from the family Ag ...

'' ( W. Peters, 1866) – painted dragon *''

Ctenophorus reticulatus ''Ctenophorus reticulatus'', the western netted dragon or western netted ground-dragon, is a species of lizard in the family Agamidae. It is found in South Australia, Western Australia and southern Northern Territory. Description ''C. reticulat ...

'' (Gray, 1845) – western netted dragon, western netted ground-dragon *''

Ctenophorus rubens ''Ctenophorus rubens'', commonly known as the reddening sand-dragon or rufus sand dragon,Wilson, S., Swan, G. (2013) ''A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia'', New Holland Publishers, Sydney, New South Wales, is a species of agamid lizard o ...

'' – reddening sand-dragon, rufus sand dragon *'' Ctenophorus rufescens'' (

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

& Zietz, 1893) – rusty crevice-dragon, rusty dragon *''

Ctenophorus salinarum ''Ctenophorus salinarum'', commonly known as the claypan dragonWilson, S., Swan, G. (2013) ''A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia'', New Holland Publishers, Sydney, New South Wales, or saltpan ground-dragon is a species of agamid lizard ...

'' (Storr, 1966) – saltpan ground-dragon, claypan dragon *'' Ctenophorus scutulatus'' (Stirling & Zietz, 1893) – lozenge-marked dragon, lozenge-marked bicycle-dragon *'' Ctenophorus slateri'' (Storr, 1967) – Slater's dragon *'' Ctenophorus spinodomus'' Sadlier, Colgan, Beatson, & Cogger, 2019 – Eastern Mallee dragon *'' Ctenophorus tjantjalka'' ( Johnston, 1992) – ochre dragon *''

Ctenophorus vadnappa ''Ctenophorus vadnappa'', commonly known as the red-barred dragonWilson, S., Swan, G. (2013) ''A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia'', New Holland Publishers, Sydney, New South Wales, or red-barred crevice-dragon is a species of agamid l ...

'' (Houston, 1974) – red-barred crevice-dragon, red-barred dragon *''

Ctenophorus yinnietharra The Yinnietharra rock dragon or Yinnietharra crevice-dragon (''Ctenophorus yinnietharra'') is a lizard in the family Agamidae. The species was first described by Glen Milton Storr in 1981. It is endemic to Western Australia Western Australia ...

'' (Storr, 1981) – Yinnietharra crevice-dragon, Yinnietharra rock dragon

Polymorphism

Lizards of the genus ''Ctenophorus'' are known to display color polymorphism, more than one color type being found within a population. It is believed that color polymorphism in this group has evolved as a result of a combination of sexual selection and natural selection.

References

External links

List of links to a page about each species, some with imagesGoogle search for images
*https://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/Upload/Files-Biological-Sciences/R-and-A-text/Key-to-the-Dragons-of-South-Australia_1.pdf *

Species

Polymorphism

References

External links

Further reading