Erdelen's horn lizard (Ceratophora erdeleni)

English: Erdelen's horn lizard

Sinhala: අර්ඩලන්ගේ අං කටුස්සා

Binomial name: Ceratophora erdeleni

Erdelen's horned lizard is a species of lizards found in the eastern part of Sinharaja. Population of this lizard has been restricted to a very limited area in the Morningside and Rakwana region of Sinharaja. Although it is called a horned lizard, it does not always have a prominent horn. A small remnant horn can sometimes be seen. But there is a species of lizard called Ceratophora stoddartii that lives in the central highlands of Sri Lanka who bears a more prominent horn compared to Ceratophora erdeleni. Looking at a phylogenetic tree, it seems that these two species have recently been separated from each other and evolved into two species. Most likely the topography of Rakwawna mountains and central highlands has been the reason to evolve them as two separate species.

Rough-horn lizard(Ceratophora aspera)

English: Rough-horn lizard
Sinhala:රළු අංකටුස්සා[Ralu Ankatussa]
Binomial: Ceratophora aspera

Ceratophora aspera, an edemic horn bearing lizard was first described by Albert Günther in 1864.Several theories have been suggested to describe the evolutionary purpose of the horn of these agamid lizards.One such hypothesis suggests that it is used for the purpose of communication within the species. Also it is said that more larger and prominent horns in males are used in attracting females for reproduction. Another theory describes that rough, brown colored horn like structure has provided an evolutionary advantage by providing a form of camouflage by letting them to blend with the leaf litter filled environment. Studies carried out using mitochondrial DNA reveals that the diversification of C. aspera has been taken place from its common ancestor about 12.6 million years ago in the Miocene(Schulte et al. 2002).

Reference:
Schulte, James A, J.Robert Macey, Rohan Pethiyagoda, and Allan Larson 2002 Rostral Horn Evolution among Agamid Lizards of the Genus Ceratophora Endemic to Sri Lanka. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 22(1): 111–117.

Whistling lizard (Calotes liolepis)

English: Whistling lizard
Sinhala:සිවුරුහඬලන කටුස්සා[Siwuruhandalana katussa]
Binomial: Calotes liolepis

Whistling lizard, සිවුරුහඬලන කටුස්සා (Calotes liolepis) is an endemic species of lizards distributed in wet and intermediate zones from sea level up to 800m. It was given the name ‘Whistling lizard’ due to the high pitched whistling sound they make when disturbed. Since the Calotes liolepis was first described by Bolenger; 1885, it was considered that there is an only one single species distributed throughout the country until further research was done. But now it is said that the liolepis group consists of three distinct species namely, Calotes manamendrai from Knuckles region, Calotes desilvai from Rakwana mountains and the species living in areas like Sinharaja, Galle, Kandy and Ritigala as Calotes liolepis. It falls under ‘Endangered’ category in the IUCN red list and the habitat destruction is the main threat.

Pethiyagoda’s Crestless Lizard (Calotes pethiyagodai)

Male

Male

Female

Female

English: Pethiyagoda’s Crestless Lizard
Binomial: Calotes pethiyagodai
Sinhala: පෙතියාගොඩගේ නොසිලු කටුස්සා[Pethiyagodage nosilu katussa]

Pethiyagoda’s Crestless Lizard is an endemic species of lizards found in Sri Lankan highlands. Population of this newly described species(2014) has been restricted to the higher elevations of Knuckles mountain range(>900 meters). Species name pethiyagodai was given for this lizard to honor Mr. Rohan Pethiyagoda for his contribution for the conservation of biodiversity of the country. Above photographs were taken at Knuckles mountain range in November, 2015.

References:
https://window2nature.wordpress.com/2014/04/11/garden-lizard-gains-an-elite-relative-from-knuckles/ http://mapress.com/zootaxa/2014/f/z03785p078f.pdf

Tennent’s leaf-nosed lizard (Ceratophora tennentii)

English: Tennent’s leaf-nosed lizard
Binomial: Ceratophora tennentii
Sinhala: ටෙනන්ට්ගේ පෙති අං කටුස්සා[Tennentge pethi an katussa]

Tennent’s leaf-nosed lizard is an endemic species of lizard mostly restricted to the knuckles mountain range of Sri Lanka. Bearing a leaf like appendage on the end of the nose is the uniquely identifiable feature of this lizard. In the day time this lizard can be seen hanging vertically on tree trunks inside the covered forest.

Common Green Forest Lizard (Calotes calotes)

Female

Male

Female

English : Common Green Forest Lizard

Binomial Name : Calotes calotes

Sinhala : පළා කටුස්සා / [Pala katussa]

A common lizard lives in India and Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, It can be found in places where elevation above the sea level is lesser than 1500 meters. This lizard is arboreal and mostly lives on shrubs and trunks of Trees. Its diet  consists of insects.

Oriental Garden Lizard (Calotes versicolor)

Male

Female

English : Oriental Garden Lizard / Changeable Lizard

Binomial Name : Calotes versicolor

Sinhala : ගරා කටුස්සා / [Gara katussa]

Widely destributed lizard around the world. In Sri Lanka it lives all environmental regions except central highlands. They come in variable colors and the colors can be changed time to time. Male is bigger in size compared to female. This lizard feeds mainly on insects but sometimes on plant matter. The Sinhala name 'ගරා කටුස්සා - Gara katussa' has the meaning of 'House lizard'.

Pygmy lizard (Cophotis ceylanica)

English:    Pygmy lizard
Scientific: Cophotis ceylanica
Sinhala:    කුරු බෝදිලියා

This slow moving rare endemic arboreal lizard is restricted only to highlands of  Sri Lanka. It can be found in Horton Plains National Park, Hakgala and Piduruthalagala mountain range. C. ceylanica has been well adopted to the cold and windy climate of central hills. As adaptations it bears live young instead of laying eggs. Its body texture has the same coloration of lichens and tree moss to make it difficult to identify at once. This species of lizard is considered as highly threatened due to the climatic changed and deforestation.

Sri Lankan Kangaroo lizard (Otocryptis wiegmanni)

English:    Sri Lankan Kangaroo lizard

Scientific: Otocryptis wiegmanni

Sinhala:    පිනුම් කටුස්සා / යක් කටුස්සා / තැලි
                 කටුස්සා 

O. wiegmanni is an endemic lizard mostly living in wet zone forest such as Kanneliya and Sinharaja. They can also be seen in lower mountain forests. It’s Diet consists of insects and tender leaves. This lizard got its name, "Kangaroo lizard" due to the ability of running bipedally when threatened.

Hump-nosed Lizard (Lyriocephalus scutatus)

Engish:     Hump-nosed Lizard
Scientific: Lyriocephalus scutatus
Sinhala:    ගැට හොඹු කටුස්සා [Gata-hombu
                 Katussa] / කරමල් බෝදිලියා [Karamal
                 Bodiliya]

This agamid lizard is endemic to Sri Lanka. It can be seen in wet zone forests such as Sinharaja and Kanneliya.  Lizard can be identified by its hump like structure on the top of its nose. Most of the time it can be seen hanging on stems of trees vertically. If threatened this lizard opens its mouth by showing dark colored inside as a defense mechanism for enemies.

Rhino-horned lizard (Ceratophora stoddartii)

Engish:      Rhino-horned lizard
Scientific:  Ceratophora stoddartii
Sinhala:    කඟමුව අංකටුස්සා  [Kangamuwa Ankatussa]

Ceratophora stoddartii is an endemic lizard found in highlands of Sri Lanka. Lizard can be found in Horton Plains, Hakgala Strict nature reserve and Pidurithalagala mountain range. They mainly feed on insects. Reason to have a horn like structure on its head is still debatable.