This is one of the finest lizards in Sri Lanka, and the competition is tough. When I saw my first one, I thought life couldn't get much better than that exact moment. Later that evening we saw five more, ranging from teeny-tiny babies to gloriously colorful adults. They are diurnal, but like many tropical diurnal arboreal lizards, are much easier to find at night when they cling to a tree trunk or branch or twig and rest.

Nearly two weeks of Sri Lankan herpetological adventures passed before we found another of these amazing agamids, this time in the lowland rainforests.

Here are a couple more large adults from the following evening, showing off the extreme color variation in this species. They have very sharp teeth which they are happy to demonstrate when perturbed.