Rankinia diemensis
Silhouette: Michael Scroggie · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
Rankinia is a genus of small agamid reptiles. As currently delineated, it is monotypic, containing only Rankinia diemensis (Gray, 1841), also known as the mountain heath dragon or mountain dragon. It is endemic to Australia.
It occurs in the uplands of New South Wales and Victoria, as well as in Tasmania, where it is the only native agamid. Mountain dragons are found in dry woodlands and heaths with access to open areas for sunning themselves. They are oviparous and feed on ants and other small invertebrates.
They do not climb very high, relying instead on camouflage to evade predators. Their overall colour is grey to reddish brown, with two rows of lighter-coloured paravertebral stripes or blotches running down their backs. These stripes are deeply scalloped, so they appear like two series of blotches. They can have cream-coloured bellies. Individuals can grow up to 20 cm in length, although the average length is somewhat smaller, with females typically growing larger than males. The average snout to base of tail length is 7.5 centimeters, but can be up to 9. They have a row of enlarged spinose (spikey) scales on each side of the tail... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Freycinet National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Kosciuszko National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Zoo & Aquarium | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Dragon sighting in Blue Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 455 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the most-seen of the 44 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and October
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Dragon in Blue Mountains National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May and June, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mountain Dragon sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Mountain Dragon sightings, Blue Mountains National Park has the highest daily chance: about 50%. Next come Freycinet National Park (Australia, about 50%) and Grampians National Park (Australia, about 20%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Agamidae
The closest relatives of the Mountain Dragon that you can see in Blue Mountains National Park (family Agamidae, Dragons) are Australian Water Dragon (about 50%), Jacky Lashtail (about 30%) and Bearded Dragon (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mountain Dragon is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Blue Mountains National Park (455 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
