Grand Forest Dragon

Grand Forest Dragon (Gonocephalus grandis) is an agamid or gecko recorded for Vietnam in the project inventory. The supporting occurrence note is “Expert range list”. Its use of the exact scientific name is important because Southeast Asian lizard taxonomy changes frequently and several close relatives were described only recently. Where a familiar English name is present it is retained; otherwise the scientific name avoids inventing an unsupported vernacular name (project species data; Reptile Database taxonomy).

Forest dragons are diurnal, arboreal agamids of humid tropical forest, often perching vertically on trunks near streams. They take insects and other small prey and use crests, body posture and colour in display and camouflage. They may enter water when escaping danger. These are genus-level traits, while exact habitat, size and reproduction require species-specific field evidence (general Gonocephalus ecology; Reptile Database).