Systematic Review of Sexual Dimorphism in the Genus Draco (Lacertilia: Agamidae)

Faiq Khoerul Umam

Abstract


This systematic literature review synthesizes morphological, ecological, and evolutionary information to understand variation in sexual dimorphism in Draco. The literature indicates that males generally possess conspicuous marking structures such as brightly colored neck skin folds and more differentiated patagia that function in territorial defense and mate attraction. In contrast, females often exhibit proportionally larger body size and patagia area, reflecting natural selection pressures related to reproductive costs and the need to maintain gliding performance while carrying eggs. Patterns of sexual dimorphism in Draco vary widely across species and regions, influenced by local environmental conditions, habitat noise levels, and interspecific competition.

Keywords


Dewlap, Draco, Patagium, Reptile, Sexual Dimorphism.

Full Text:

PDF

References


Carothers, J. H., 1984, Sexual selection and sexual dimorphism in Some Herbivorous Lizards, The American Naturalist, 124(2), 244-254

Klomp, D. A., 2016. The Evolution of Diversity: Sexual selection and natural selection on the social signals of gliding lizards, Doctoral dissertation. University of New South Wales.

Mori, A., Hikida, T., 1992. A preliminary study of sexual dimorphism in wing morphology of five species of the flying lizards, genus Draco. Japanese Journal of Herpetology, 14(4), 178–183.

Mori, A., Hikida, T., 1994. Field observations on the social behavior of the flying lizard, Draco volans sumatranus, in Borneo. Copeia, 1994(1), 124–130.

Musters, C. J. M., 1983. Taxonomy of the genus Draco L. (Agamidae, Lacertilia, Reptilia). Zoologische Verhandelingen, (199), 1–120.

Ord, T. J., Klomp, D. A., 2014. Habitat partitioning and morphological differentiation: the Southeast Asian Draco lizards and Caribbean Anolis lizards compared. Oecologia, 175(2), 651–666.

Russell, A. P., Dijkstra, L. D., 2001. Patagial morphology of Draco volans (Reptilia: Agamidae) and the origin of glissant locomotion in flying dragons. Journal of Zoology, 253(4), 457–471

Sharma, A. D., Sridharan, A., Isvaran, K., 2025. Decoding the dewlap: multiple signals in females and males of a gliding lizard. Behaviour, 162, 617–642.

Shine, R., 1989. Ecological causes for the evolution of sexual dimorphism: A review of the evidence. Quarterly Review of Biology, 64(4), 419–461.

Shine, R., Keogh, S., Doughty, P., Giragossyan, H., 1998. Costs of reproduction and the evolution of sexual dimorphism in a 'flying lizard' Draco melanopogon (Agamidae). Journal of Zoology, 246(2), 203–213.

Srichairat, N., Duengkae, P., Jantrarotai, P., Chuaynkern, Y., 2016. Sexual dimorphism in the spotted flying lizard Draco maculatus (Gray, 1845) (Squamata: Agamidae) from Thailand. Agriculture and Natural Resources, 50(2), 120–123.

Srichairat, N., Jantrarotai, P., Duengkae, P., Chuaynkern, Y., 2014. Morphometric analysis of three Draco lizard species (D. blanfordii, D. maculatus, and D. taeniopterus) (Squamata: Agamidae) from Thailand. Kasetsart Journal (Natural Science), 48(3), 383–402.

Srichairat, N., Jantrarotai, P., Duengkae, P., Chuaynkern, Y., 2017. Identification key to species of the flying lizard genus Draco Linnaeus, 1758 (Squamata: Agamidae) in Thailand. Agriculture and Natural Resources, 51(1), 40–46.

Summers, T. C., Ord, T. J., 2022. Signal detection shapes ornament allometry in functionally convergent Caribbean Anolis and Southeast Asian Draco lizards. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 35(11), 1508–1524.

Tabug, M. A., Necesito, L. V., Diesmos, A. C., 2023. Notes on the pattern of head size in the Philippine Spotted Flying Lizard, Draco spilopterus (Weigmann, 1834), within Luzon Biogeographic Region, Philippines. Herpetozoa, 36, 289-296.

Uetz, P., 2021. The Reptile Database: Curating the biodiversity literature without funding. Biodiversity Information Science and Standards. 5(2)




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33087/jiubj.v26i1.6394

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

ADRESS JOURNAL

JURNAL ILMIAH UNIVERSITAS BATANGHARI JAMBI (JIUBJ)
Published by Lembaga Penelitian dan Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat
Adress: Jl.Slamet Ryadi, Broni-Jambi, Kec.Telanaipura, Kodepos: 36122, email: jiubj.unbari@gmail.com, Phone: 0741-670700

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.