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Chelosania brunnea GRAY, 1845

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Higher TaxaAgamidae (Amphibolurinae), Sauria, Iguania, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Chameleon Dragon 
SynonymChelosania brunnea GRAY 1845: 245
Chelosania brunnea — BOULENGER 1885: 331
Chelosania brunnea — COGGER 1983
Chelosania brunnea — MANTHEY & SCHUSTER 1999: 42
Chelosania brunnea — COGGER 2000: 305
Chelosania brunnea — WILSON & SWAN 2010
Chelosania brunnea — CHAPPLE et al. 2019 
DistributionAustralia (Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia)

Type locality: Western Australia  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.8.11.43 (formerly xxiii.34a) 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): Body without very large conical spines or a spiny nuchal hump (in contrast to Molloch), no large skin “frill” around neck (as in Chlamydosaurus), femoral and/or pre-anal pores absent, transverse gular fold absent; tail about 1.25 times as long as body (from key in Cogger 2014: 692). 
CommentLifestyle: semi-arboreal.

Type species: Chelosania brunnea GRAY 1845 is the type species of the genus Chelosania GRAY 1845: 245.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin brunneus = brown.

Unclear. The genus Chelosania was possibly named after the Greek chelone (turtle) or chelos (box) and the Latin nasus (nose). The name was subsequently spelt Chelonasia by Gray (1867) and the original description refers to the swollen sides to the face in this species. Derivation not stated by Gray (1845). 
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
  • 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.
  • Gray, J. E. 1845. Catalogue of the specimens of lizards in the collection of the British Museum. Trustees of die British Museum/Edward Newman, London: xxvii + 289 pp. - get paper here
  • Hutchinson, Mark N. and Rhonda G. Hutchinson 2011. Karyotypes of Moloch and Chelosania (Squamata: Acrodonta). Journal of Herpetology 45 (2): 216-218. - get paper here
  • Jolly, C., Schembri, B., & Macdonald, S. 2023. Field Guide to the Reptiles of the Northern Territory. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne - get paper here
  • Laive, A. de, & Jolly, C. J. 2020. Field observations of a cryptic agamid (Chameleon Dragon Chelosania brunnea Gray, 1845) in semi-arid savanna woodland of northern Australia. Australian Zoologist - get paper here
  • Macey, J. R., J. A. Schulte II, A. Larson, N. B. Ananjeva, Y. Wang, R. Pethiyagoda, N. Rastegar-Pouyani, T. J. Papenfuss 2000. Evaluating trans-Tethys migration: an example using acrodont lizard phylogenetics. Systematic Biology 49 (2): 233-256 - get paper here
  • Manthey,U. & SCHUSTER,N. 1999. Agamen, 2. Aufl. Natur und Tier Verlag (Münster), 120 pp. - get paper here
  • Uetz, P.H.; Patel, M.; Gbadamosi, Z.; Nguyen, A.; Shoope, S. 2024. A Reference Database of Reptile Images. Taxonomy 4: 723–732 - 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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