page_title: Central netted dragon
section_title: Ecology and habitat
hierarchical_section_title: Central netted dragon / Ecology and habitat
caption_attribution_description: Landscape at former British nuclear test site, en:Maralinga, South Australia. Maralinga, South Australia, is the former British nuclear test site. I worked at the site during the Maralinga Rehabilitation Project where contaminated radioactive material was cleaned up.
context_page_description: The central netted dragon or central netted ground dragon, Ctenophorus nuchalis, is a species of agamid lizard occurring in a wide range of arid to semiarid regions of Australia. It is widespread across the continent, commonly found in open, sandy, desert habitats. It is a popular pet and can often be found in zoos.
context_section_description: Central netted dragons are burrowing, diurnal (day-active), and terrestrial (ground-dwelling), spending their days basking on logs, stones and termite mounds.  Like the majority of reptiles, they are ectotherms, relying on their environment to regulate their body temperature (that averages 36.1 °C).  A dragon's day will start with basking in the sun to raise its body temperature to gain energy.  Without adequate body heat, these lizards cannot digest their food.  When the desert temperature peaks in the middle of the day, they will either retreat to their burrows to cool down, or climb plants to escape the extreme heat.
  They are known to have several burrows, typically six to eight, often constructed at the base of stumps of living spinifex (Triodia) grasses, or within hillocks such as those formed by dead grass hummocks.  These tend to be relatively shallow, dead-end burrows in different parts of their home range, and are used primarily as nocturnal retreats and for predator escape.  They will often back-fill the entrance to this burrow to prevent entry by predators, and to keep the heat out.  They prefer perches with high vantage points, such as termite mounds (which also serve as a source of food for this insectivore), dirt hills, logs, and fence posts.
  Vegetation cover is an important part of the ecology of the central netted dragon.  The species predominates in areas of low vegetation, for example, following a period of drought when Spinifex has died back and ground cover is sparse (<10%).
  As with many of the dragon species, central netted dragons will communicate with other members of their species by bobbing their heads and waving their legs.  Males can be quite territorial, and will use these display signs to intimidate rival males, in an attempt to ward off any potential takeover bids.
caption: Example of habitat of the central netted dragon
exif: {"Image Make": "PENTAX Corporation", "Image Model": "PENTAX *ist DL", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "*ist DL     Ver 1.00", "Image DateTime": "2007:04:19 11:03:44", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "602", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 0, 33, 0, 1, 0, 22, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "56464", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5223", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/180", "EXIF FNumber": "19/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Landscape Mode", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:04:19 11:03:44", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:04:19 11:03:44", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "18", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3008", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2000", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "56338", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "27", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Landscape", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "3"}