| OCR Text |
Show 1895.] FRILLED LIZARD OP TROPICAL AUSTRALIA. 715 relates to its method of perambulation. In this respect it would appear to differ from all existing Beptilia known to science. W h e n in Queensland a few years ago it was reported to m e that the animal could run supported upon its hind legs only. By others, however, this assertion was contradicted, and neither was I successful in witnessing this most remarkable phenomenon of the single living specimen I there had in m y possession for a short period. With examples obtained at Roebuck Bay, in the tropical district of Western Australia, I was more fortunate, and was enabled to fully satisfy myself that a bipedal mode of progression represents its normal gait when the animal is traversing level The Frilled Lizard running. ground for any distance. In addition to having had the gratification of securing other independent witnesses of the remarkable method of locomotion exhibited by Chlamydosaurus, I have also succeeded in obtaining several characteristic photographs, herewith submitted, of this Lizard thus running. From one of the most typical of these photographs the skilful taxidermist, Mr. Pickhardt, has prepared the specimen likewise exhibited, and which will serve to convey a yet more realistic impression of the aspect of the running animal1. 1 By the kind courtesy of the proprietors of the ' Field' the woodcut (Fig. 1) executed in accord with one of these photographs, drawn from life at the Zoological Gardens by Mr. Frohawk, and which appeared with a preliminary notice of this lizard in that journal for August 3rd, is herewith reproduced. The writer is likewise indebted to the same source for Fig. 2 (p. 717), representing the animal in its ordinary resting attitude when on the ground. |
