Ctenophorus, from Ancient Greek κτείς (kteís), meaning "comb", and φόρος (phóros), meaning "bearing", is a genus of lizards, commonly known as comb-bearing dragons, found in Australia. They are in the dragon lizard family, known as Agamidae. Many of the species of Ctenophorus have been grouped by a similar morphology. The informal names and groupings within this genus — rock dragon, sand dragon, crevice-dragon, ground dragon, and bicycle-dragon — are named after the mythological creature, the dragon.

Lizards in the genus Ctenophorus may be confused with lizards in the genera Tympanocryptis and Diporiphora.

Species

There were 34 recognised species in the genus until a new study published in June 2023 discovered four more in South Australia adding up to a total of 38 species. The new species are included in the list below.

  • Ctenophorus adelaidensis <small>(Gray, 1841)</small> – western heath dragon
  • Ctenophorus butlerorum <small>(Storr, 1977)</small> – Butler's dragon, Shark Bay heath dragon, Edel heath dragon
  • Ctenophorus caudicinctus <small>(Günther, 1875)</small> – ring-tailed bicycle-dragon, ring-tailed dragon
  • Ctenophorus chapmani <small>(Storr, 1977)</small> – Chapman's dragon, southern heath dragon, Bight heath dragon
  • Ctenophorus clayi <small>(Storr, 1967)</small> – black-shouldered ground-dragon, black-collared dragon
  • Ctenophorus cristatus <small>(Gray 1841)</small> – crested bicycle-dragon, crested dragon, bicycle dragon
  • Ctenophorus decresii <small>(A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1837)</small> – tawny crevice-dragon, tawny dragon
  • Ctenophorus femoralis <small>(Storr, 1965)</small> – long-tailed sand dragon
  • Ctenophorus fionni <small>(Procter, 1923)</small> – Peninsula crevice-dragon, Peninsula dragon
  • Ctenophorus fordi <small>(Storr, 1965)</small> – Mallee dragon, Mallee sand dragon, Mallee military dragon
  • Ctenophorus gibba <small>(Houston, 1974)</small> – Bulldust ground-dragon, gibber dragon
  • Ctenophorus graafi <small>(Storr, 1967)</small> – Graaf's dragon
  • Ctenophorus ibiri <small>(Edwards & Hutchinson, 2023)</small> (C. fordi, C. femoralis, and C. maculatus) had been identified. Their June 2023 study published in the Journal of Herpetology provided additional morphological data from all of candidate species, which led to the recognition of 11 species. Of these, four taxa were found to be species rather than subspecies, with another four species newly described.

See also

  • Ctenophorus kartiwarru

References

Further reading

  • Fitzinger L (1843). Systema Reptilium, Fasciculus Primus, Amblyglossae. Vienna: Braumüller & Seidel. 106 pp. + indices. (Ctenophorus, new genus, p.&nbsp;83). (in Latin).
  • Wilson S, Swan G (2003). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia. Second edition. Sydney: New Holland Publishing.
  • List of links to a page about each species, some with images
  • Google search for images
  • https://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/Upload/Files-Biological-Sciences/R-and-A-text/Key-to-the-Dragons-of-South-Australia_1.pdf