අං කටුස්සා (Ceratophora stoddartti)

 මධ්‍යම කඳුකරයේ මුහුදු මටටමේ සිට මීටර් 1500 ත් 2200 ත් අතර උසින් යුත් කලාපයේ නුවරඑලිය, මහඑලිය (හොර්ටන් තැන්න), ශ්‍රිපාද අඩවිය වැනි ප්‍රදේශ වල  ස්වභාවික වනාන්තර, වගා බිම් සහ ගෙවතු වල හමුවන මෙරටට ආවේනික කටුස්සෙකි. එසේම භූගෝලීය වශයෙන් හුදකලා වූ ගහණයක් බදුල්ල දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ නමුණුකුල කන්ද ආශ්‍රීතවද ඉතාමත් කුඩා ප්‍රදේශයකට සීමා වී හමුවේ. බොහෝවිට ගස් කඳන් මත දිවිගෙවන මුත් භෞමිකවද සැරිසරන අං කටුස්සන් දැක ගත හැක. කෘමින් සහ දලඹුවන් ආහාරයට ගන්නා අං කටුස්සන් භූමියේ සැරිසරන විට ගැඩවිලුන්ද ගොදුරු කර ගනී. ගස් කඳන් මත සිට පොළොව මතට ගමන් කරන අවස්ථාවේදී සිය ශරීර වර්ණය හරිත පැහැයේ සිට දුඹුරු පැහැය දක්වා ක්ෂණිකව වෙනස් කර ගැනීමේ හැකියාව අං කටුස්සාට තිබේ. 

English Post >>

පිනුම් කටුස්සා (Otocryptis weigmanni)

පිනුම් කටුස්සා මුහුදු මට්ටමේ සිට මීටර 1300 පමණ උසක් දක්වා තෙත් කලාපයේ වනාන්තර ප්‍රදේශ වල පමණක් භෞමිකව හමුවන මෙරටට ආවේණික උරගයෙකි. වනාන්තර දිය පාරවල් අසබඩ කොළ රොඩු මත බහුලව හමුවේ. එහෙත් එවැනි පරිසර වල ගල් මත මෙන්ම ඇතැම් අවස්ථා වලදී ගස් කඳන් මතත් දැකිය හැක.  කලබල වූ විට ඇතැම්විට පිටුපස කකුල් දෙකින් දුවන බැවින් Kangaroo Lizard යන ඉංග්‍රිසි නම මෙම කටුස්සා හැඳින්වීමට භාවිතා වේ. පිනුම් කටුස්සා සඳහා මෙරට ජන ව්‍යවහාරයේ යෙදෙන කලා කටුස්සා, යක් කටුස්සා, පිනුම් කටුස්සා සහ තැලි කටුස්සා වැනි නම් කිහිපයක්ම P.E.P. දැරණියගල මහතා ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇත. කුහුඹුවන්, සලබයන්, තණකොලපෙත්තන් සහ කුරුමිණියන් වැනි කෘමි සතුන් පිනුම් කටුස්සා ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන් ගොදුරු කර ගනී. එසේම මකුළුවන්, කුඩා හූනන් සහ ඇතැම් අවස්ථා වලදී ලපටි දලු රිකිලි වැනි ශාකමය ආහාරද පිනුම් කටුස්සා ආහාරයට ගන්නා බව නිරීක්ෂණය කර ඇත. පිරිමි සතුන් ඔවුන්ටම සීමා වූ ගොදුරු භූමි වෙන් කර ගන්නා අතර වෙනත් පිරිමි සතෙකු සිය ප්‍රදේශය ආක්‍රමණය කල විටදි බෙල්ල ප්‍රදේශයේ තිබෙන තැල්ල විහිදාගෙන ආක්‍රමණිකයා සමග සටන් කරණු දැකිය හැක.
English Post >>

Lowland Kangaroo Lizard/Earless Lizard/පිනුම් කටුස්සා/තැලි කටුස්සා[Pinum Katussa/Thali Katussa] (Otocryptis nigristigma)

An endemic lizard rather common in dry lowlands up to about 400 m elevations. It lives  among leaf litter of forest floor and sometimes even on tree trunks and rocks. Lowland Kangaroo Lizard inhabits both natural as well as the anthropogenic habitats, if adequate shade and leaf litter is available.

Painted-lip Lizard/Sri Lankan Bloodsucker/තොල විසිතුරු කටුස්සා[Thola visithuru Katussa] (Calotes ceylonensis)

An endemic lizard confine to the semi-evergreen monsoon forests, home gardens and plantations in the dry and intermediate zones up to about 400 elevations. Painted-lip Lizard is an arboreal agamid inhabiting tree trunks of large trees. It active during the day time and feeds on butterflies, day moths, bees and other insects.

දේවකගේ තැලි කටුස්සා [Devakage Theli Katussaa]/Devaka's Fan-throated Lizard (Sitana devakai)

Fan throated Lizard inhabiting dry coastal areas of  the North, Northwestern and Southeastern part of the country was formerly considered as a single species Sitana ponticeriana which is also recorded from the India. However with the recent taxonomic changes now it is considered that Sri Lanka is home to two distinct endemic species, one occurs in the Southeastern coastal areas (Sitana bahiri) and other in the Northern and Northwestern part of the island (Sitana devakai).

Devaka's Fan-throated Lizard is an endemic lizard confine to the dry coastal areas of the north and north western part of the island. However sometime it is recorded even 10-60 km from the nearest beach. It is active during the day time. Territorial behaviors of Sitana devakai are similar to its Southeastern congener Sitana bahiri.  

References:
Amarasinghe, A.A.T., Ineich I., Karunarathna D.M.S.S., Madhava W., Botejue S. & Campbell P.D., 2015 Two new species of the genus Sitana Cuvier, 1829 (Reptilia: Agamidae) from Sri Lanka, including a taxonomic revision of the Indian Sitana species, Zootaxa 3915(1): 67-98

Pethiyagoda’s Crestless Lizard/පෙතියාගොඩගේ කොදු-දැති රහිත කටුස්සා (Calotes pethiyagodai)

The Crestless lizard inhabiting Knuckles range has been recently described as a new endemic species base on morphological features (Amarasinghe T. et. al., 2014). It is restricted to the elevations between 900-1400m of the Knuckles range and inhabits forest edges rather than dense forests and found on trees and shrubs. It feeds on insects like dragonflies, moths and butterflies.  

References:

Amarasinghe T. et. al., 2014 A new species of the genus Calotes (Squamata: Agamidae) from high elevations of the Knuckles Massif of Sri Lanka. Amarasinghe A.A.T., Karunarathna D.M.S.S., Hallermann J., fujinuma J., Grillitsch H. & Campbell P.D. Zootaxa 3785 (1): 059–078.

Hump-nosed Lizard/Lyre-headed Lizard/ගැටහොඹු කටුස්සා/කරමල් බෝදිලිමා/බොහොඬා[Gatahombu Katussa/Karamal Bodilima/Bohonda](Lyriocephalus scutatus)

Hump-nosed Lizard is an endemic arboreal lizard found in shaded forests and adjoining well wooded home gardens and plantations from wet lowlands to mid hills (up to about 1600m a.s.l.). It feeds on insects[termites, butterflies, moths], earthworms,  young shoots and buds as well as fruits on both trees and on land. It is a diurnal lizard and during night ascending high up trees to sleep. If cornered it opens its mouth wide to show the bright red color inside, change body color  and also practicing death feigning. 

කට කලු කටුස්සා/Black-cheek Lizard/Dark-lipped Lizard(Calotes nigrilabris)

An endemic lizard confine to submontane and montane areas of elevation 1000m and above. It is common in Horton plains national park. Hakgala, Nuwaraeliya and Peak wilderness. Black-cheek Lizard is an arboreal species and during the day time it feeds on insects, millipedes and also sometime on other smaller agamides like juvenile Rhino-horn Lizard and Pygmy Lizard (Somaweera R. & Somaweera N., 2009). As also seen in above picture, in Horton Plan National Park it is usually observed staying on Rhodondron arboreum zeylanicum [මහ රත් මල්] and Gorse[Ulex europaeus] flowers, which attract insects.  Anslem de Silva  noted that during the night they descend from trees and sleeping is done on grass blades (de Silva A., 2007)

de Silva A., 2007 - The diversity of Horton plains national park (with specieal reference to its herpetofauna)

Sand Lizard/Fan-throat Lizard (Sitana ponticeriana)

Sand Lizard is a ground dwelling reptile inhabiting sand dunes and open scrublands in the coastal areas around the island. But it is much common in arid North, Northwestern and southern parts. It feeds mainly on insects such as ants, termites, beetles etc.  It is capable of running on its hind legs with considerable speed with its tail raised. Sand Lizard active mainly during early hours of the day and again in the evening. During heated hours of noon it is less active and stay in shady areas or in natural burrows. 

Note: Sitana species inhabiting dry coastal areas of the southeastern Sri Lanka is now considered as a separate endemic species identified as Sitana bahiri while its northern congener Sitana devakai confine to the drier coastal areas of north and northwestern parts of the island.Therefor this individual lizard photographed at Bundala Nationa Park can be considered as a Sitana bahiri.

බහිර්ගේ තැලි කටුස්සා/Bahir's Fan-Throated Lizard (Sitana bahiri)

Bahir's Fan-Throated Lizard is highly territorial lizard and before combat and prior to mating, male extend and stretch it's throat-fans very quickly. Also swivel its head and open its dark blue color mouth in a threat pose to its male opponents. It feeds on insects such as dragonflies, caterpillars and butterflies as well as tiny crabs.

References:
Amarasinghe, A.A.T., Ineich I., Karunarathna D.M.S.S., Madhava W., Botejue S. & Campbell P.D., 2015 Two new species of the genus Sitana Cuvier, 1829 (Reptilia: Agamidae) from Sri Lanka, including a taxonomic revision of the Indian Sitana species, Zootaxa 3915(1): 67-98

Whistling Lizard/Forest Lizard(Calotes liolepis)

An endemic lizard distributed in South-Western wet lowlands, sub-montane areas and few isolated places of dry lowlands (Such as Nilgala,Ritigala, Monaragala, Yala etc.). It is highly arboreal species and inhabits shaded areas of forests, well wooded home gardens and plantations. Whistling lizard has an unusual habit of uttering a high pitched whistling sound when alarmed. Hence its vernacular name.  It feeds mainly on insects.  

Rough – horn Lizard (Ceratophora aspera)

Endemic and endangered lizard lives in lowland and submontane Dipterocarp forests of the wet zone. Rough – horn Lizard  is a ground dwelling and slow moving lizard which inhabits leaflitter of the shaded forests, usually as pairs. 

Rhino horn Lizard (Ceratophora stoddartti)

An endemic lizard of Sri Lanka inhabiting central hills from 1500-2200 m a.s.l. It can be found in home gardens, natural forest areas and cultivations in Nuwaraeliya, Horton plains, peak wilderness, Hakgala, Namunukula etc. Namunukula population is restricted to very limited area and geographically isolated from central hills. It feeds on insects, caterpillars and also earth worms when foraging on ground. It is usually found in tree trunks though not uncommon in terrestrial habitats too.  It can change its color from green to brown in a considerable rapidity when descending from tree trunk to the ground (Lizards of Sri Lanka - Ruchira Somaweera 2009)

සිංහලෙන් කියවන්න >>

Leaf-nosed Lizard/දුම්බර අංකටුස්සා[Dumbara Ankatussa](Ceratophora tennentii)

An endemic lizard of Sri Lanka confines to the knuckles range.  It is a diurnal and slow moving lizard of natural forests, cardamom plantations and also adjoining home gardens at elevations of 760 – 1220m in knuckles range.

Common Garden Lizard (Calotes versicolor)

The most common and widespread agamid lizard of Sri Lanka inhabiting all over the island up to about 1400m above sea level. It is uncommon in forest areas and much common close to human habitations. It is arboreal and diurnal while usually seen on low shrubs and tree trunks waiting for its prey, which primarily consist of insects. It is also feed on juveniles of other agamid, geckos and some plant matters, such as seeds, leaves and buds. Cannibalism also reported among larger individuals of this lizard. 

Green Garden Lizard (Calotes calotes)

Green garden lizard or Pala Katussa is a common lizard with wide distribution from low lands plains to mid hills. It is highly arboreal and found in both forest and anthropogenic habitats such as home gardens, plantations, etc... However it is rare in Northern part of the country and higher hills (Not recorded of above 1500m a.s.l). It has very characteristic long tail and it can be considered as the largest Calotes species in the country. It feeds mainly on insects but may also take plant materials such as tender buds and flowers. Several color variations has been recorded of this species and it has been observed a quite distinct population from Kachchativu Island. 

පිනුම් කටුස්සා[Pinum Katussa]/Sri Lankan Kangaroo Lizard(Otocryptis weigmanni)

An endemic ground dwelling lizard confined to wet zone of the country (In forest areas from sea level up to 1300m). It inhabits on the leaf litter near forest streams. This lizard when disturbed may run bipedally (Rises on to its hind legs when running). That is the base for unusual name ‘kangaroo lizard’ for it. P.E.P. Deraniyagala mentions several Sinhalese names for this lizard – (Kala Katussa, Yak Katussa, Pinum Katussa, Thalli Katussa). Its diet consists of insects (Ants, Moths, Grasshoppers and Beetles), Spiders and occasionally plant materials such as tender shoots.

සිංහලෙන් කියවන්න >>