NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Bloodsucker
Calotes versicolor (Daudin, 1802)
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
The oriental garden lizard (Calotes versicolor), also called the eastern garden lizard, Indian garden lizard, common garden lizard, bloodsucker or changeable lizard, is an agamid lizard found widely distributed in Indo-Malaya. It has also been introduced in many other parts of the world.
Wikipedia contributors, Oriental garden lizard; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T01:23:37.176330+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Calotes versicolor (Daudin, 1802)
- Name authority
- (Daudin, 1802)
- Common name
- Bloodsucker
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Agamidae
- Genus
- Calotes
- 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
- subfamilyDraconinae
- genusCalotes
- speciesCalotes versicolor (Daudin, 1802)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Calotes. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Calotes htunwini Zug & Vindum, 2006 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mizoram Montane Forest LizardCalotes zolaiking Giri, Chaitanya, Mahony, Lalronunga, Lalrinchhana, Das, Sarkar, Karanth & Deepak, 2019 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Small Forest LizardCalotes paulus Smith, 1935 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Calotes vindumbarbatus Wagner, Ihlow, Hartmann, Flecks, Schmitz & Böhme, 2021 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Calotes geissleri Wagner, Ihlow, Hartmann, Flecks, Schmitz & Böhme, 2021 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Calotes goetzi Wagner, Ihlow, Hartmann, Flecks, Schmitz & Böhme, 2021 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Wang’s garden lizardCalotes wangi Huang, Li, Wang, Li, Hou & Cai, 2023 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Calotes iadina Wang, Deepak & Grismer, 2024 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Calotes bachae Hartmann, Geissler, Poyarkov, Ihlow, Galoyan, Rödder & Böhme, 2013 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Common Green Forest LizardCalotes calotes (Linnaeus, 1758) | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Calotes desilvai Bahir & Maduwage, 2005 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Calotes emma Gray, 1845 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Calotes cristatus Jaquemont, 1844 Jaquemont, 1844 | synonym |
| Agama versicolor Daudin, 1802 Daudin, 1802 | synonym |
| Calotes gigas Blyth, 1853 Blyth, 1853 | synonym |
| Calotes versicolor major Annandale, 1921 Annandale, 1921 | synonym |
| Calotes viridis Gray, 1846 Gray, 1846 | synonym |
| Agama indica Gray, 1827 Gray, 1827 | synonym |
| Agama tiedemanni Kuhl, 1820 Kuhl, 1820 | synonym |
| Agama vultuosa Harlan, 1825 Harlan, 1825 | ambiguous 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=Calotes&species=versicolor 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:Q467. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.