SEAVR 2016: 53-54
ISSN : 2424-8525
Date of publication: 25 March 2016.
Hosted online by ecologyasia.com

Modest Forest Dragon Hypsilurus modestus fromMoro, Southern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea
Nick BAKER
nbaker @ ecologyasia.com
Observer: Nick Baker.
Photographs by: Nick Baker.
Subject identified by: Nick Baker, Ulrich Manthey.
Location: 10 km southwest of Moro Airfield, Southern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea (PNG).
(Lat 06° 26.077'S, Long 143° 11.024'E)
Elevation: 1150 metres
Habitat: Secondary, forest-edge, adjacent to primary, lower montane forest on karst limestone.
Date and time: 06 May 2005, 12:51 hrs.
Identity of subject: Modest Forest Dragon, Hypsilurus modestus (Reptilia: Squamata: Agamidae).
Description of observation: A specimen withestimated snout-vent length of 8 cm, and an
estimated tail length of 23 cm, was seen sunning
itself on the trunk of a sapling at the edge of anarrow, oilfield service road passing throughprimary forest. The subject was rather shy, andquickly reoriented itself on the tree trunk after
being disturbed.
Remarks: The habitat where the subject wasfound is typical of the karst limestone areas ofSouthern Highlands Province, PNG, which
comprises primary, lower montane forest growing
on steep slopes. The interior of such forest is
typically dark and humid, with moss and lichencovered tree trunks, but where the forest has
been locally cleared for roads or small-scale
development, a narrow belt of secondary forest
develops which is dominated by fast-growing, sunloving tree species. The lizard was sunning itself
on such a tree (Fig 1.).
The lizard was identified as Hypsilurus modestus
based on its bright green colour, the presence ofbright, pale green bands on the posterior part ofthe dorsum, and banded limbs and tail, with thebands on the tail being more prominent in theanterior part (Fig 2.). A nuchal crest is evident
comprising three widely-spaced enlarged scales(with possibly a fourth such scale, less enlarged
and anterior to these three). There is a radial
pattern of broad, dark lines and narrow, palegreen lines around the eye.

Fig. 1.

53© Nick Baker

A related species, Hypsilurus geelvinkianus, which is very similar in size, colouration and also lacks a dorsal crest,
possesses a "comparatively large gular pouch with acute base on the chest" : the absence of this feature and thehint of a "small gular flag with rounded base", reaffirms this specimen as Hypsilurus modestus (Manthey &Denzer, 2006).
Hypsilurus modestus is widely distributed on the island of New Guinea, adjacent smaller islands of Indonesia(including Kei and Aru Islands) and larger islands off the east of mainland Papua New Guinea (including NewBritain and New Ireland). (Manthey & Denzer, 2006).
Locality records compiled for the island of New Guinea are mainly from the coastal lowlands (Manthey & Denzer,2006). This record lies 185 km west of Yuro, Chimbu District, from where a specimen used in a phylogenetic studyof the genus was acquired (Denzer & Manthey, 2016) : Yuro lies at a similar altitude (i.e. above 1000 metres
elevation), to the record described here.

Fig. 2.

© Nick Baker

References:
Denzer, W. & Manthey, U. (2016). Remarks on the taxonomy and nomenclature of the genus Hypsilurus Peters,
1867 (Reptilia, Agamidae, Amphibolurinae). Zoosyst. Evol. 92 (1) : 103-110.
Manthey, U., & Denzer, W. (2006). A revision of the Melanesian-Australian angle head lizards of the genus
Hypsilurus (Sauria: Agamidae: Amphibolurinae), with description of four new species and one new subspecies.
Hamadryad. 30: 1-40.

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