NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Intellagama lesueurii (Gray, 1831)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Eastern water dragon (Physignathus lesueurii lesueurii) basking in the sun at the cafe of the Billabong Koala And Aussie Wildlife Park, Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia.
Quartl · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Australian water dragon (Intellagama lesueurii), which includes the eastern water dragon (Intellagama lesueurii lesueurii) and the Gippsland water dragon (Intellagama lesueurii howittii) subspecies, is a semi aquatic agamid species native to eastern Australia from Victoria northwards to Queensland. There may be a small introduced population on the south-east coast of South Australia. The Gippsland water dragon is generally the more southern of the two subspecies and the more cold adapted and heat sensitive. Visually distinguishing the Gippsland water dragon from the Eastern water dragon is relatively easy, as long as their skin is reasonably clean and not stained from the water, as identification of the two subspecies depends largely on observable differences in colours and patterns. The Gippsland water dragon may be distinguished by its green-blue colour, especially during the breeding season, when this overall colouration is quite distinct. Another key difference is the absence of a prominent dark stripe behind the eye in the Gippsland water dragon, which is characteristic of the Eastern water dragon.
Wikipedia contributors, Australian water dragon; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T14:32:44.501771+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Intellagama lesueurii (Gray, 1831)
- Name authority
- (Gray, 1831)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Agamidae
- Genus
- Intellagama
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderIguania
- familyAgamidae
- subfamilyAmphibolurinae
- genusIntellagama
- speciesIntellagama lesueurii (Gray, 1831)
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Iguana paramatensis Fitzinger, 1843 Fitzinger, 1843 | synonym |
| Lophura lesueurii Gray, 1831 Gray, 1831 | synonym |
| Physignathus lesueurii var. howitti Mccoy, 1884 Mccoy, 1884 | synonym |
| Amphibolurus branchialis de Vis, 1884 de Vis, 1884 | synonym |
| Amphibolurus heterurus Peters, 1866 Peters, 1866 | synonym |
| Amphibolurus maculiferus Girard, 1857 Girard, 1857 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Intellagama&species=lesueurii Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3PSS9. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.