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"Pet Bearded Dragon Care & Information (Pogona vitticeps)"

Bearded Dragon Zoology

Bearded dragon zoology is the branch of Bearded dragon biology that focuses on the structure, function, behavior and evolution of these animals

Bearded Dragon Classification

The Class Reptilia (rep-til’e-ah) includes those animals with dry skins and epidermal scales, skulls with one point of articulation with the vertebral column, metanephric kidneys, amniotic eggs, internal fertilization and which breathes through lungs.

The Order Squamata (skwa-ma’tah) or the scaled reptiles, is recognised by specialised jaws which makes it possible to eat large prey. This order is a very diverse, successful group of reptiles and includes lizards, snakes and worm lizards.

The Suborder Lacertilia (previously Sauria - sawr’e-ah – sauro meaning lizard in Greek) consists of nearly 5 000 species. Most lizards have four limbs, external ears and one tail. Vision, including colour vision is particularly well developed and most communicate with body language.

The Family Agamidae includes all the Old world lizards of the Suborder Lacertilia. This very diverse family consists of more than 350 species. These so called “dragons” are found in Asia, Africa, Europe, Middle East and Australia. They have large mouths, a distinctive shaped head which contains spikes and thornlike structures and have well-developed, strong limbs to move efficiently. Agamids inhabit warm environments ranging from hot deserts to tropical rain forests.

The genus Pogona, formerly classified Amphibolurus, includes eight known species of Bearded dragons. In Greek the name Amphibolorus means “a tail that can be lashed this way or that”, which refers to the group of agamid lizards with long, thin, whiplike tails. It later became evident that Bearded dragons do no possess these characteristics and in 1982 they were reclassified by an Australian zoologist and they were placed in the genus Pogona, which is derived from the Greek word pogon, meaning “beard”. Current whiptail-like species include Amphibolurus muricatus (Jacky dragon), Amphibolurus nobbi and Amphibolurus norrisi.

The eight Bearded dragon species (Pogona genus) are as follows:

1. Dwarf Bearded dragon, P. minor minor

2. Eastern Bearded dragon, P. barbata

3. Inland Bearded dragon, P. vitticeps

4. Mitchell’s Northwest Bearded dragon, P. minor mitchelli

5. Nullabor Bearded dragon, P. nullabor

6. Rankin’s (also Lawson’s) Bearded dragon, P. henrylawsoni

7. Small-scaled Bearded dragon, P. microlepidota

8. Western Bearded dragon, P. minor minima

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