''Otocryptis wiegmanni'', commonly called the brown-patched kangaroo lizard, Sri Lankan kangaroo lizard or Wiegmann's agama, is a small, ground-dwelling

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 th ...

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 ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Etymology

The specific name, ''wiegmanni'', is in honour of German herpetologist

Arend Friedrich August Wiegmann Arend Friedrich August Wiegmann (2 June 1802 – 15 January 1841) was a German zoologist and herpetologist born in Braunschweig. He studied medicine and philology at the University of Leipzig, and afterwards was an assistant to Martin Lichtenstei ...

.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Otocryptis wiegmanni'', p. 285).

Habitat

The preferred

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

of ''O. wiegmanni'' is the wet zone forests and lower mountain forests (rainfall >2000 mm), up to , of

. It is commonly seen in the leaf litter of shady rain forests. Otocryptis wiegmanni from Matale

Defensive behaviour

When perceiving danger, ''O. wiegmanni'' spurts away quickly on its large hind legs and might eventually climb up a sapling or tree.

Diet

''O. wiegmanni'' feeds on small insects, grubs, and tender shoots. Deraniyagala PEP (1953). ''A Colored Atlas of some Vertebrates from Ceylon, Volume 2''. p. 58.; de Silva, Anslem (2005). ''Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Sri Lanka''. London. p. 88.

Taxonomy

''O. wiegmanni'' is closely related to the Indian kangaroo lizard ('' O. beddomii'' ) of the rain forests of

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and T ...

Description

''O. wiegmanni'' may grow to an adult body size of about snout-to-vent length (SVL), plus a tail long. Its colour ranges from dark reddish brown to dull brown. Males are darker than females. Males have a maroon patch on their

gular sac Gular skin (throat skin), in ornithology, is an area of featherless skin on birds that joins the lower mandible of the beak (or ''bill'') to the bird's neck. Other vertebrate taxa may have a comparable anatomical structure that is referred to as ...

Reproduction

Male ''O. wiegmanni'' are

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

and can defend their territory against intruders through displays and fights. Females lay between three and five eggs in a nest in the ground between July and January, with a peak between October and January. The eggs are ellipsoidal, measuring . Hatchlings emerge after 57–70 days.

References

External links

Description

Etymology

Habitat

Defensive behaviour

Diet

Taxonomy

Description

Reproduction

References

External links

Further reading