HOLY FLYING LIZARD

Click images to Enlarge

 There is an amazing species of gliding lizard which looks like a miniature dragon. They breed in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia and look like mini versions of flying Toruks from Avatar – if you have seen the film.

They spread out the skin attached to their ribs (“wings”) to glide from one tree to another. Although they can not sustain powered flights like all modern reptiles, they can glide over 8 meters.

The crazy part is that those lines you see running through the wings like veins are actually its ribs! Evolution did a number on these guys. They can expand and contract their chests at will to glide great distances. We were only able to catch females as they were laying their eggs. All we could do is watch as the males soared overhead.