We have incorporated a new group of collar lizard offspring (Chlamydosaurus kingii) with the aim of promoting their conservation through the reproduction of this species, which is threatened and in danger of disappearing. The group will have a male and three females to try to achieve the reproduction of the species within two years, where they will reach their reproductive stage.
The lizards will be shown inside the Terraceratops restaurant, which is set in the Jurassic period. The morphology of these animals is reminiscent of dilophosaurus. The collar lizards receive precisely that name due to the collar of tissue that opens when it feels threatened. This part of his body, located behind his head and on his back, can reach up to 30 centimetres in diameter. When this lizard perceives a dangerous situation, it expands the fan-shaped collar at the same time that it opens its mouth emitting a whistling sound.
Both defence mechanisms allow them to scare off their predators. In case this technique does not work, the lizard has another escape strategy where it flees quickly by the two legs until it reaches the tree closest to the one that climbs. Its body can measure about 50 centimetres in Australian specimens, and slightly less in New Guinea.
The females do not have a very long life, only seven or eight years old. They reach the reproductive maturity after a year and a half or two years. Once pregnant, it deposits between 8 and 15 eggs that hatch after three months. The offspring are born totally independent and like their collar is so small, they develop a camouflage system that allows them to look like the shades of the trunks and go unnoticed by predators.
This species is endemic from Australia and New Guinea and, at present, is threatened due to the pressure put by wild cats in both geographical areas, where it is estimated that they kill close to two million native animals per year where we can find these lizards among others.