Common Green Forest Lizard



COMMON GREEN FOREST LIZARD (Calotes calotes)
                                                      CLASSIFICATION
            • Kingdom    -Animalia
            • Phylum      -Chordata
            • Class          -Reptilia
            • Order         -Squamata
            • Family       -Agamidae
            • Genus        -Calotes
            • Species      -Calotes calotes                                                                                                            
INTRODUCTION 
  The Common Green Forest Lizard (Calotes calotes) belongs to the family of Agamidae.It is also called පළා කටුස්සා(palaa katussa) in sinhala. This is a large species of Agamid .

DISTRIBUTION 
Green forest lizards mostly live in Sri lanka and also India.This lizard highly arboreal and widespread the plains and midhills where elevation up to about 1500m.  
    
MORPHOLOGY     
 Green forest lizard is mostly bright green in colour.They have almost bright green dorsal colouration.Usually there are white,cream,or dark green transverse stripes in the dorsal side of the body.Mostly these stripes continue on the tail.The head is yellowish or brownish green.But male develops bright red in head and throat in the breeding season.
     
         The body length of the Green forest lizard about 50-60cm including the tail.Tail is quite long & slender. Head large;length one and half times of it's breadth.Snout is much longer than the orbit.This lizard has concave ,forehead,protrusive cheeks and smooth unequal scales on the upeer head region.These scales point backwards and upwards.The gular pouch is not well developed.The limbs are moderate.The hind limbs reach to the front of the eye.
   
DIET 
Their diet is mostly insects .Such as dipterans,hemipterans and hymenopterans.So they are insectivorous.

REPRODUCTION 
Their breeding season in April to September.Male develops bright red in head and throat in the breeding season. this season they lay 6-12 spherical soft shelled eggs.


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