Amphibolurus muricatus

Jacky Lizard at Morton National Park

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Identification history

Amphibolurus muricatus	2 Oct 2018	PatrickCampbell
Amphibolurus muricatus	2 Jul 2018	PatrickCampbell
Unidentified	11 Jun 2018	CRSImages

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User's notes

Additional photo added 2/7/18 Photos replaced with higher resolution images 22/7/18

10 comments

PatrickCampbell wrote:

2 Jul 2018

I reckon this is a Jacky Dragon (Amphibolurus muricatus) rather than Pogona barbata, as it is currently ascribed.
Reasons being, this specimen has a more pointed snout like a Jacky and lacks the enlarged throat scales and some of the large spinose scales around the sides of the head typical of Eastern Beardies. It also doesn't have the numerous spinose scales on the flanks, characteristic of Pogona barbata.

CRSImages wrote:

3 Jul 2018

Happy to get a confirmation. Pogona barbata is the closest I can find in my field guide, though it is south of the recorded coastal distribution. For both suggested species the lighter patches / blotchy patches on the back and tail stripes are absent. I have other photos but they don't add to the diagnostics.

JackieMiles wrote:

3 Jul 2018

Yep, no sign of a beard on this critter. Rather a drab specimen as jacky lizards go, maybe an old one?

JackieMiles wrote:

22 Jul 2018

"Way too big" is a bit vague - how long was it? I still can't see any evidence of a beard on the second photo. And I have seen jackys sunning themselves on stumps like this.

CRSImages wrote:

22 Jul 2018

The lizard was about 450 mm or so nose to tail as far as I can recall. It was certainly much bigger than the Jacky Lizards I see regularly on the coastal walks and as I commented earlier it lacks the lighter patches on the back and the tail stripes. Any other suggestions?

JackieMiles wrote:

22 Jul 2018

That does sound over-sized for a jacky. I see it is near something called a creek (although it looks more like a heathy bog in the air photo), so what about a water dragon? It looks a bit drab for one of those too, but comparing it with my photos of water dragons and beardies, it looks closer to the former. Even a young beardy, that lacks the spiny beard, seems to have smaller spinose scales all over the throat, which your 2nd photo doesn't show.

JackieMiles wrote:

22 Jul 2018

See my comment above re the spiny scales on the throat. I've done a painstaking comparison of the shape of the head and the scales with my photos of beardies, jackies and water dragons in a similar pose, and it actually fits a jacky best, despite the size problem. The other two have spinose scales on the lower eyelid which your thing doesn't have, and a more pronounced ridge above the nostril, and the beardy has the spinose scales on the throat even when young. So I'm going to stick to my guns on this ID. Anyone else want to weigh in?

PatrickCampbell wrote:

22 Jul 2018

Was the animal measured at 450 mm or was this an estimate?
Jackies are known to get up to 35 cm.

It's not a water dragon, as the mouth lining is bright orange (if you look closely at the additional photo).

Wildlife Atlas records indicate that Jackies are in the vicinity, as there's an occurrence record for Amphibolurus muricatus on AoLA by NPWS less than 1.5 km from this sighting (coordinates: -35.289122711 150.351803463 )
https://biocache.ala.org.au/occurrences/27988984-c2f8-4053-81e2-422b49cd07e0

Whereas there are no known reliable records as far as I could find for Pogona barbata in this area.

CRSImages wrote:

23 Jul 2018

The length is an estimate and in hindsight following the earlier queries. It was far larger and differently marked than the Jacky lizards I see regularly on the costal walks. My original photos are much clearer than the Atlas images (I don't know whether I can upload better images, but I'll try). The mouth lining is yellow and there is a reddish colour on the belly and tail scales. I agree that this is out of the Pogona barbata range per the NSW field guide.

PatrickCampbell wrote:

23 Jul 2018

Thanks for uploading better images which look sharper.
The animal appears to be in pre-slough, which may explain why the dorsal markings were obscured.
All things considered, I think it's most likely to be a Jacky Dragon.

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