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Sunday 3 March 2013

Changeable Lizard


The Changeable Lizard is widely distributed in tropical Asia including Hong Kong.



It is often mistakenly called “Chameleon” because of its ability to change colour. However, Changeable lizards can change their colours, quite rapidly, but not as rapidly as chameleons, yet these two species  belong to different families of lizards.

I saw this red lizard the other  day,



within minutes, the red colour disappeared.



This one was bright red before it saw me,

then the colour changed.



Like the chameleons, the changeable lizard can change its colour either to express its mood,





or to improve its camouflage, like these ones.





Usually, the changeable lizard is grey or olive coloured with  speckles or bands,


but during the breeding season, the male’s head and shoulders turn red/orange and his throat black.




Its bright red coloration earned the nickname of 'bloodsucker', although the Changeable Lizard does not actually suck anybody’s blood.



22 comments:

Bas. said...

Wat laat je dit mooi aan ons zien,geweldig mooie opname,s gefeliciteerd .

TexWisGirl said...

they're just beautiful! you captured lots of wonderful photos of them in all their shades!

Montanagirl said...

What amazing creatures! The color-changing is really an interesting phenomenon. Great photos!

John @ Beans and I on the Loose said...

I had never heard of this species before, and your photos are excellent depicting their changeable ability. Thanks for sharing this. A very interesting post.

Giga said...

Nie wiedziałam , że są takie jaszczurki, które potrafią zmieniać swoje kolory. Pięknie to uchwyciłeś na zdjęciach. Pozdrawiam.
I did not know that there are lizards that can change their colors. This beautifully showed in the pictures. Yours.

Bonnie K said...

Very interesting. The photos of the lizard in the tree make it look so graceful. Thanks for sharing.

john said...

Those Changeable Lizards are such cute little guys. I thought they were called changeable because of the variety of colors they display, but I did not know that one lizard could show such an array of different coloration. I have seen them for sale in local pet shops. Do you see monitor lizards around Hong Kong?

Carole M. said...

it's really a handsome lizard; I especially like the fawn coloured version

chica said...

Maravilhosas tuas fotos e ele fez pose,rs...abraços,chica

Irma said...

What a great photos, they are all very sharp and with many details, my compliments.
Greetings Irma

Bob Bushell said...

Brilliant Lizard, clever. Well captured.

Breathtaking said...

It's just remarkable, the way these beautiful lizards change colour, and remarkably good photos to show us in great detail the before and after of their transformation.Brilliant photography:)

A couple of these photos made me smile, because of their unusual posture!!:)

Joke (Joke's Camera) said...

Beautiful blog with stunn ing pictures. Because these lizards don't live the Netherlands your blog is very interesting for me. The most common species here is the Zootoca vivipara, a small lizard that cannot change its color. Compliments! Greetings, Joke

Julie Hargreaves said...

Great lizard images

Julie G. said...

Fabulous post filled with interesting information and exceptional photographs! Excellent detail, sharpness and color in this series. Marvelous work!

Linda said...

Wow! Fascinating and beautiful!

Helma said...

I find this really great. what a beautiful pictures I see here and so sharp! Thick compliments!

Dominic Gendron said...

Pretty cool lezard...and awseome images of it! Great serie, congrats ;)

ShySongbird said...

What absolutely beautiful photos of these lovely creatures, really stunning!! They have such gentle, sweet looking faces :-)

Magia da Inês said...

¸.•°♡♡


As fotos estão lindas!
Bom fim de semana!
Beijinhos.♡°•.¸

¸.•°♡♡°•.¸

Unknown said...

How fascinating..What a great record of their variability..Nature, and your documentation of it is marvelous!

Kirsti said...

Todella kauniita kuvia. Mielenkiintoinen tuo väriä vaihtava lisko :)