Magnificent Frill-necked Lizard

The large ruff of skin that lies folded back against its neck is where it gets its name frill-necked, the frill is supported by long spines of cartilage that are connected to the jaw bones. When the lizard is frightened it gapes its mouth and the frill flares out displaying bright orange red purplish blue to a blueish black, the reaction is to discourage predators but it is all so used during courtship, this Lizard is rather large in size it can grow to 91.00cm and it can run on its back two legs, how ever its body is darker than its frill and you can find them in many different colours, I found this one on a trip to Cairns I stopped just out side Cardwell with some friends and went for a walk in the Cardwell ranges, just to see what I could see I had only been walking for about half an hour, and there was two frill-necked lizard's having a dispute over territory, I was able to get a good photo of one before they ran up a tree well separate trees of course, I moved away from there territory and found a spot to sit, and stayed for a few hours and got some good sketches of one with out its frill, most of the time they live in the trees and only come down to hunt or do some courting, or of course have a dispute over territory,