Oriental Water Dragon
(Physignathus cocincinus curier)
Habitat: reside on trees and bushes of low altitude humid river valleys in tropical areas and often crawl on bamboo leaves during the
 summer.
Feeding habits: catch insects and young fish etc.
Features: Oriental water dragon is a kind of large-sized lizards. The head of it can reach 20 cm and its tail length can reach 40 cm. In the middle of its back, there is a row of horsehair scales, which start from the neck and end in the middle of its tail, and which will raise up when the it is shocked. Therefore, sometimes it is called "horsehair snake". The color of its body can change to suit the surrounding environment, so sometimes it is also called "chameleon". Oriental water dragon is also good at swimming. It is of oviparity. Since it has a beautiful body color and strange shape, people often catch them out of curiosity. But since it resides in tropical areas, it's very hard for them to survive if they are removed from the original habitat. Thus the resource has been greatly reduced. For the time being, their number in wild state is greatly reduced.
Category: Reptilia, Squamata,Lacertiformes, Iguanidae。
Distribution: tropical areas in South Yunnan, Guangdong and Guangxi.
Protection level: it is listed as a rare protection animal of Yunnan.
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