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Ctenophorus cristatus (GRAY, 1841)

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Higher TaxaAgamidae (Amphibolurinae), Sauria, Iguania, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Crested Bicycle-dragon, Crested Dragon 
SynonymGrammatophora cristata GRAY 1841: 87
Amphibolurus cristatus — BOULENGER 1885: 383
Amphibolurus cristatus — KINGHORN 1924
Amphibolurus cristatus — COGGER 1983
Licentia cristata — WELLS & WELLINGTON 1985: 18
Ctenophorus cristatus — MANTHEY & SCHUSTER 1999: 51
Ctenophorus cristatus — COGGER 2000: 311
Ctenophorus cristatus — PIANKA & VITT 2003: 82
Ctenophorus cristatus — CHAPPLE et al. 2019: 58 
DistributionAustralia (South Australia, Western Australia)

Type locality: Western Australia  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.9.4.41 
Diagnosis 
CommentHabitat: shrubs, hummock grass.

Diet: a large percentage of the diet of this species (30-50%) consists of ants (Lucas et al. 2023). 
EtymologyPresumably named after the Latin cristatus (crested), alluding to the vertebral keel. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024) 
References
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1885. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. Geckonidae, Eublepharidae, Uroplatidae, Pygopodidae, Agamidae. London: 450 pp. - get paper here
  • Cavalcanti, Lucas B Q; Gabriel C Costa, Guarino R Colli, Eric R Pianka, Laurie J Vitt, Daniel O Mesquita 2023. Myrmecophagy in lizards: evolutionary and ecological implications. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2023;, zlad175, - get paper here
  • Chapple, David G.; Reid Tingley, Nicola J. Mitchell, Stewart L. Macdonald, J. Scott Keogh, Glenn M. Shea, Philip Bowles, Neil A. Cox, John C. Z. Woinarski 2019. The Action Plan for Australian Lizards and Snakes 2017. CSIRO, 663 pp. DOI: 10.1071/9781486309474 - get paper here
  • Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • Glauert, L. 1959. Herpetological Miscellanea. XI. Dragon Lizards of the Genus Amphibolurus. Western Australian Naturalist 7 (2): 42-51 - get paper here
  • Goldberg, S.R. 2009. Notes on Reproduction of the Crested Dragon, Ctenophorus cristatus (Squamata: Agamidae) from Western Australia Bull. Maryland Herpetol. Soc., 45(4): 111-113. - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1841. Description of some new species and four new genera of reptiles from Western Australia, discovered by John Gould, Esq. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (1) 7: 86-91 - get paper here
  • Kinghorn, J. Roy 1924. Reptiles and batrachians from south and south-west Australia. Rec. Austral. Mus. 14 (3): 163-183 - get paper here
  • Koch, Claudia 2017. Herping Down Under – eine Auszeit in Westaustralien. Terraria-Elaphe 2017 (4): 60-63 - get paper here
  • Manthey,U. & SCHUSTER,N. 1999. Agamen, 2. Aufl. Natur und Tier Verlag (Münster), 120 pp. - get paper here
  • Melville, Jane; Schulte, James A.; Larson, Allan 2001. A molecular phylogenetic study of ecological diversification in the Australian lizard genus Ctenophorus. Journal of Experimental Zoology: Molecular and Developmental Evolution 291(4): 339-353 - get paper here
  • Pianka, E. R. 1971. Notes on the biology of Amphibolurus cristatus and Amphibolurus scutulatus. Western Australian Naturalist 12: 36-41 - get paper here
  • Pianka, E.R. & Vitt, L.J. 2003. Lizards - Windows to the Evolution of Diversity. University of California Press, Berkeley, 347 pp. [review in Copeia 2004: 955] - get paper here
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
 
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