Elliot's forest lizard
Monilesaurus ellioti, or Elliot's forest lizard, is a species of arboreal, diurnal, lizard in the family Agamidae, endemic to the Western Ghats, India.
The specific name, ellioti, is in honor of Scottish naturalist Walter Elliot.
Diurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some anima...
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starts withThe upper head-scales of M. ellioti are feebly keeled, imbricate, much enlarged on supraorbital region; a small spine behind the supraciliary edge, and two others on each side, the anterior midway between the nuchal crest and the tympanum, the posterior just above the latter, which measures nearly half the diameter of the orbit. Gular sac not developed; gular scales strongly keeled, smaller than the ventrals. A strong oblique fold or pit in front of the shoulder, and a transverse gular fold. Nuchal crest composed of a few widely separated slender spines, the longest of which measures about two thirds the diameter of the orbit; dorsal crest a mere denticulation. 53 to 61 scales round the middle of the body; loreal scales of nearly the same size as the ventrals, keeled, the uppermost with the points directed straight backwards, the others directed downwards and backwards; ventral scales strongly keeled. The adpressed hind limb reaches the anterior border of the orbit or the tip of the snout; fourth finger longer than third. Tail scarcely compressed. Olive above, with more or less distinct angular dark-brown, cross bands on the body ; an angular black mark on each side of the neck; a white spot below the orbit, dark lines radiating from the eye.
From snout to vent 3 in (7.6 cm); tail 8.5 in (22 cm).