[UNCLASSIFIED] Water Dragons

I have been trying to write an article on Water dragons for Field Nats. Descriptions of the 2 subspecies seem confusing and contradictory in many cases, even by the same authors.

 

When looking at water birds, eg during the Molonglo boat trips, walks along Murrumbidgee, Lakes, etc

Can you please record for each Adult male:

-whether there is a black stripe from the eye over the ear

-the colour of the throat

-the colour of the belly

 

-the specific location

 

and send to me

 thanks

 

Dont put to much effort in, I just want to get an idea of which areas to follow up.

 

Benj Whitworth

p.s. Any other relevant literature on this problem would be appreciated.

fyi- I dont want to bias the results, but our interpretation (+ herps-heads) of the various references is that Gippsland Water dragon (P.L.howittii) should have no black eye stripe, an orange and blue throat and olive belly, while the Eastern Water dragon (ssp lesueurii) should have red belly, black eye stripe and less colourful throat. Apparently both sub species occur in Canberra, which seems strange as we are way out of the distribution range of the Eastern Water dragon ssp lesueurii range. This whole thing may just indicate that colour is not a good character for ID of water dragons.

Physignathus lesueurii

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