Boyds Forest Dragon (Hypsilurus boydii)

I Photographed this forest dragon one night in a high altitude mabi forest on the Atherton tablelands here in QLD.This dragon is a living dinosaur & endemic to the tropical rainforests of Far North Queensland. They are the only diurnal reptile in the world that does not use sunlight to regulate their temperature, Instead, Body heat is balanced to match the temperature of the occupying vegetation. This neutral heat reading helps them avoid detection from pythons which use their heat-sensing abilities to detect prey. People often see these in the daintree region and on the tablelands. Quite often they hide around the side of the tree hoping you cant see them. A day after this photoshoot I felt rather sick and found 27 ticks on my body which helped explain the headache. However, Being able to see such an amazing primitive creature in its natural environment makes it all worth it. I love the abundance of the tropics but it makes me depressed to think there is only 4% of the original highland mabi forests left & these are in small fragmented isolated patches.

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