Meet the Eastern water dragon
The eastern water dragon is the familiar spiky lizard of east-coast creeks and city parks. It basks on rocks and branches above the water and is a powerful swimmer, using its long, flattened tail to propel itself.
If disturbed, it drops into the water and swims to the bottom to wait for the danger to pass, staying under for up to about 30 minutes. Males hold territories, signalling with head bobs, arm waves and tail slaps, and females lay about a dozen eggs in sandy soil above the flood line.
Brisbane's parks hold some of the highest densities of water dragons anywhere. University of the Sunshine Coast researchers found that dragons living in parks only a few kilometres apart, such as Roma Street Parkland and the City Botanic Gardens, have already diverged in body shape, and later genetic work showed this urban evolution is happening rapidly.
John Edward Gray described the species in 1831 as Lophura lesueurii, honouring French naturalist Charles Alexandre Lesueur. It sat in the genus Physignathus for many years before being moved to Intellagama, a name that means 'intelligent lizard'. There are two subspecies: the eastern water dragon and the Gippsland water dragon of Victoria and south-eastern New South Wales.
Where it lives
Coastal waterways of eastern Australia from northern Queensland south through New South Wales to Gippsland in eastern Victoria. Common along creeks, rivers and lakes, and in city parks and gardens.