''Rankinia'' is a genus of small agamid reptiles. As currently delineated, it is monotypic, containing only ''Rankinia diemensis'' (Gray, 1841), also known as the mountain heath dragon or mountain dragon. It is endemic to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Distribution and habitat

It occurs in the uplands of New South Wales and Victoria, as well as in Tasmania, where it is the only native agamid. Mountain dragons are found in dry woodlands and heaths with access to open areas for sunning themselves. They are

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...

and feed on ants and other small invertebrates.Cogger, H.G. (1979). ''Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia''. Reed: Sydney. They do not climb very high, relying instead on camouflage to evade predators.

Description

Their overall colour is grey to reddish brown, with two rows of lighter-coloured paravertebral stripes or blotches running down their backs. These stripes are deeply scalloped, so they appear like two series of blotches. They can have cream-coloured bellies. Individuals can grow up to 20 cm in length, although the average length is somewhat smaller, with females typically growing larger than males. The average snout to base of tail length is 7.5 centimeters, but can be up to 9. They have a row of enlarged spinose (spikey) scales on each side of the tail bases. The mountain dragon appears similar to the

jacky dragon The jacky dragon (''Amphibolurus muricatus'') is a type of lizard native to southeastern Australia. It was one of the first Australian reptiles to be named by Europeans, originally described by English zoologist George Shaw in Surgeon-General J ...

, but can be much redder, and the inside of its mouth is pink (compared to the yellow of the jacky dragon). They breed in summer, laying 2–9 eggs in a burrow.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1943152 , from2=Q3061781 Agamidae Agamid lizards of Australia Monotypic lizard genera Endemic fauna of Australia Taxa named by Richard Walter Wells Taxa named by Cliff Ross Wellington