Tropicagama temporalis
Silhouette: Michael Scroggie · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
Tropicagama is a genus of large-bodied lizards in the family Agamidae. The genus is monotypic, with only one species listed: Tropicagama temporalis, commonly known as the swamplands lashtail or northern water dragon. This semi-arboreal species inhabits the tropical savannah woodlands of northern Australia, as well as parts of New Guinea and southeastern Indonesia.
From its original description in 1867 until 2017, genus Tropicagama has previously been included in multiple other genera, including Amphibolurus, Gemmatophora, Gowidon, Grammatophora, Lophognathus, and Physignathus. The new genus – Tropicagama – was created by Melville et al. in 2018, after an extensive analysis of three genera (Amphibolurus, Gowidon and Lophognathus) that have had long-standing inconsistencies in their taxonomic classification. The morphological and mitochondrial DNA analysis revealed that four distinct evolutionary lines were lumped in the former genus Lophognathus. As a result, the former genus Lophognathus has now been split into genera Amphibolurus, Gowidon, Lophognathus, and Tropicagama. All of these genera are contained within subfamily Amphibolurinae. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Exotic Animal World | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | National Reptile Zoo | 🇮🇪 Ireland |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Water Dragon sighting in Kakadu National Park on a given day, based on 24 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 17th most-seen of the 54 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–February and August
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Water Dragon in Kakadu National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March and November, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Northern Water Dragon sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Kakadu National Park, in our data
Kakadu National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Northern Water Dragon sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Agamidae
The closest relatives of the Northern Water Dragon that you can see in Kakadu National Park (family Agamidae, Dragons) are Frill-necked Lizard (about 40%), Gilbert's Dragon (about 30%) and Northern Two-line Dragon (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Northern Water Dragon is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Kakadu National Park (24 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.
