This time when I was browsing though the pages of sanctuary Asia magazines Dec ’10 issue, one particular photo caught my eye. Two fan throated lizards have jumped up into the air while they were fighting. Its not that it was the only stunning photo, there were several but this one refreshed the memory of my last year’s Orissa tour.Last year in the month of May, I with two friends had gone to Rusikullya, Orissa to see the Olive Ridley turtles emerging from the eggs. I wrote about that in May, ’10 posting in detail. The area was filled with Garden Lizard (Calotes versicular). They seem to be everywhere. And because of the white sand, their overall coloration was more whitish. After clicking their photos the whole morning, I quite got bored. Then we went to a well for bathing. There were plenty of thorny scrubs around. Suddenly a movement in the scrubs caught my eye. I hoped to find a snake in there. But when I carefully inspected, it was no less rewarding. I found a small lizard of brown coloration in there. I had never seen it before. So I tried to catch it for close inspection but it was too quick for me. After several attempts I finally gave up and hoped of spotting it again sometime later.
In the next morning we went out to see the mass hatching of Olive Ridely. But to reach the spot we had to hike for several kilometers along the coast line. During that hike, in the Casurina plantation I found the lizard again. It was running on the sandy ground. But when it was entering a scrub, because of its markings on the back, it was being very hard to spot. I once again tried and failed to catch one. Then the boy from the local NGO came to my rescue. It caught one lizard for me. Close inspection reveled the skinny flap on its throat. It surely indentified it as a Fan Throated Lizard (Sitana ponticeriana).
Natural history
Fan Throated Lizard is a small and handsome lizard. It is found in two different size forms. In the Mumbai area, the size is about 70-80mm and in the rest of the area the size is 40-50mm. Fan Throated Lizard is found in all regions except heavy rainfall area and desert. In India it is not found east of Ganga River. It is a ground dwelling, diurnal lizard. Mainly feeds on ants and small insects. The overall coloration is brown and underside is white. The dark brown patches on its back help it to blend in with ground level vegetation. The most interesting part of it is the fan like appendage on its throat. In the mating season this fan on the breeding males become blue anteriorly, blue-black center and red posteriorly. Male lizards stand on the hind legs and open and close its fan. Female lizards watch this display hiding in a bush. Males also fight to defend their territory and females. Mating commences from April-May and egg laying occurs in July.
