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  3. Common Flying Dragon

One of the 4 dragons on WAnimals

Common Flying Dragon (Draco volans)

Reptiles · Squamata · Agamidae

Common Flying Dragon

Draco volans

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk.

Spotted something wrong?

It does not really fly but glides, using a "wing" of skin folds held out by elongated, extendable ribs, covering glides of up to 60 metres.

Size

up to 23 cm

Life expectancy

8 years

Diet

Insectivore

Feeds mainly on insects and other invertebrates.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Rainforest
13countries26parks7same family

AI-generated images: illustrations, not photographs.

Fun facts

  • It feeds mainly on ants and termites.
  • The female comes down to the ground only to lay her eggs, spending the rest of her life in the trees.
  • It lives in the tropical forests of South-East Asia, in open secondary forest and along forest edges.
  • locomociónIt can glide more than 60 metres between trees on elongated skin-covered ribs, spread like a wing only at the moment it leaps.

Life cycle and biology

Skeleton type
Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton with elongated ribs supporting skin membranes (reptile)
Habitat and environment
Tropical forest of South-East Asia, mainly in open secondary forest and along forest edges
Birth weight
Weight at hatching not found as a precise figure; small egg
Size at birth
Small on hatching, able to glide almost at once
Sexual maturity
No precise figure in the sources consulted
Gestation / incubation
~32 days of egg development (some sources give 45-60 days)
Litter / clutch size
1 to 5 eggs per clutch (most commonly 5)

Sources consulted: A-Z Animals · Critter Science · Wowzerful · Animal Diversity Web · Animals.net · Wikipedia (Draco volans, Draco lizard) · ExplorationJunkie

Where to find it

Best time: All year round in South-East Asia, by day, on tree trunks; the males display by extending the yellow dewlap.

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Where to see it

Parks and dive sites where this species has been documented — showing 10 of 26.

Related species

Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Common Flying Dragon — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.

Same taxonomic family
Same taxonomic family
Shares a park
Shares a park
Shares a park
Shares a park

Keep exploring

Based on what we already know about common flying dragon.

Share an experience, a fun fact or a tip for seeing the common flying dragon.
See full glossary
This page in other languages: Español · Deutsch · Français · Português · Italiano

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.

See its range on the interactive map→
Gunung LeuserIndonesia
Way KambasIndonesia
Khao YaiThailand
Gunung MuluMalaysia
KinabaluMalaysia
Ulu TemburongBrunei
Bukit Timah Nature ReserveSingapore
Khao Sok National ParkThailand
BakoMalaysia
Taman NegaraMalaysia
See all 26 parks
Vulnerable

Chinese Water Dragon

Physignathus cocincinus

Least Concern

Frilled Lizard

Chlamydosaurus kingii

Least Concern

Western Hooded Pitta

Pitta sordida

Least Concern

Common House Gecko

Hemidactylus frenatus

Least Concern

Garden Flying Snake

Chrysopelea paradisi

Least Concern

Common Treeshrew

Tupaia glis

CountriesMalaysia
ParksGunung LeuserIndonesia
TagsInsectivore
Insectivore
Diurnal
Solitary
Reptile
Rainforest
Malaysia
Indonesia
Thailand
China
Philippines
Brunei
Brunei
Cambodia
China
Indonesia
Laos
Malaysia
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Taiwan
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Vietnam