Calotes versicolor is an oviparous, arboreal, insectivorous lizard found in India and across Asia. The lizard is very successful due to its ability to thrive in urban and other highly human-influenced environments, and thus occupies a very widespread geographic range. Males are highly recognizable due to the vibrant crimson coloring they adopt during the breeding season (Enge and Krysko 2004). Female coloration also changes during breeding, but the change is less dramatic than in males. The species is unique in that it lacks identifiable sex chromosomes; male sex reversal during development is influenced by testosterone levels as opposed to estradiol, as in other reptiles that lack temperature-dependent sex determination. Thus, female is the default sex in this agamid lizard (Ganesh and Raman 1995).
Enge, K. M. and K. L. Krysko. 2004. A new exotic species in Florida, the Bloodsucker Lizard, Calotes versicolor (Daudin 1802) (Sauria: Agamidae). Florida Scientist 67: 226-230.
Ganesh, S. and R. Raman. 1995. Sex reversal by testosterone and not by estradiol or temperature in Calotes versicolor, the lizard lacking sex chromosomes. Journal of Experimental Zoology 271: 139-144.
