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sherbetbizarre Great Old One Joined: 04 Sep 2004 Total posts: 1344 Gender: Male |
 Posted: 14-06-2013 01:01 Post subject: Tiny dragon discovered in Indonesia |
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http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/sherbetbizarre/i-769ed601b2ecd7ab7fb8367aaa9b9780-dragon_zps7f8ec6b8.jpg
Well, it's a "gliding lizard" really...
| Quote: | A tiny dragon discovered in Indonesia.
Over the last couple of years, I’ve seen a particular image make its way around the Internet, popping up every now and then creating somewhat of a stir every time it resurfaces.
It all began when someone by the nickname of Biophilia_curiosus submitted this photo (depicted above) to Reddit. Apparently, the reptile pictured was caught on the island of Buton, just off the southeast peninsula of Sulawesi in Indonesia, where the submitter was involved in a herpetology study as part of Operation Wallacea. After several photos were taken, the lizard, which was a female that had descended from the trees to lay her eggs, was released.
This photograph was subsequently picked up by sites such as Neatorama, Treehugger, and the science blog Science Punk. I’ve seen this same photo shared on Twitter, with friends, knowing my interest in wildlife, pointing it out to me as well.
A lot of the reaction from the Internet has been that of amazement, with the inevitable comparisons with the dragon-like flying creatures in Avatar, or the gold-hoarding, princess-snatching, fire-breathing dragons of western mythology and fantasy. While it is a fascinating discovery, I’m not exactly very surprised, since this is after all, ‘merely’ a flying dragon (Draco spp.), and these small arboreal lizards of southern India and Southeast Asia have been known to the western world as far back as at least the mid-18th century. |
http://banoosh.com/blog/2013/06/13/a-tiny-dragon-discovered-in-indonesia/ |
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| oldrover Great Old One Joined: 18 Oct 2009 Total posts: 2106 Location: Wales Gender: Male |
| Posted: 14-06-2013 22:37 Post subject: |
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What a wonderful looking little creature.
As remarkable as the animal itself is the fact that, if the blog is accurate, there was a photo going round the net of an unknown animal that was actually legit, rather than the usual pile of old tripe. |
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| gncxx King-Size Canary
Great Old One Joined: 25 Aug 2001 Total posts: 13303 Location: Eh? Gender: Male |
| Posted: 15-06-2013 18:17 Post subject: |
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| It would be great to see one in flight. |
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| lordmongrove Great Old One Joined: 30 May 2009 Total posts: 792 Location: Exeter Age: 43 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 17-06-2013 00:51 Post subject: |
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| Seen them gliding from tree to tree in Sumatra. The ones i saw had canary yellow wing flaps. |
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| ChrisBoardman Great Old One Joined: 17 May 2011 Total posts: 516 Location: Alton, Hampshire Gender: Male |
| Posted: 17-06-2013 11:28 Post subject: |
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There is an episode of the simpsons called "Bart the Mother", which features lizards that have wings to glide if they jump out of a tree.
So I'm not surprised if it was based on a real creature. |
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| Human_84 We wont hurt you human.
Great Old One Joined: 30 Mar 2005 Total posts: 1374 Location: Invisible, sitting next to you. Gender: Male |
| Posted: 24-06-2013 21:57 Post subject: |
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| Almost certain I've seen this creature on the Discovery channel or similar many years ago. |
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