What is Draco (genus)?
{{italic title}} {{Taxobox | name = Draco | image = Draco_dussumieri.jpg | image_caption = Southern Flying Lizard, ''Draco dussumieri'' | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Chordata]] | classis = [[Reptile|Reptilia]] | ordo = [[Squamata]] | familia = [[Agamidae]] | genus = '''''Draco''''' | genus_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758 | domain = [[Eukaryote|Eukaryota]] }} [[File:Draco beccarii with wings extended.jpg|thumb|right|230px|The Common Gliding Lizard, ''Draco sumatranus'', with 'wings' extended]] '''''Draco''''' is a [[genus]] of [[agamidae|agamid]] [[lizards]] that are sometimes called '''flying dragons''', '''flying lizards''', '''gliding dragons''', '''gliding lizards''' or simply '''dragons'''. The ribs and their connecting membrane can be extended to create a kind of wing (a [[patagium]]) The hindlimbs are flattened and wing-like in cross-section, and a small set of flaps on the neck serve as a [[horizontal]] [[stabilizer]]s. They live in [[forests]], and eat insects. They cannot fly, but often get lift as they [[glide]].<ref>{{cite journal |jstor=1439979 |pages=338–339 |last1=Herre |first1=Albert W. |title=On the gliding of flying lizards, genus ''Draco'' |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_copeia_1958-12-22_4/page/n88 |volume=1958 |issue=4 |journal=Copeia |year=1958|doi=10.2307/1439979 }}</ref> Glides as long as 60&nbsp;m have been recorded, over which the animal loses only 10&nbsp;m in height. They are quite small. One [[species]] is only about 20&nbsp;cm long.<ref name=ross>Piper, Ross 2007. ''Extraordinary animals: an encyclopedia of curious and unusual animals''. Greenwood Press.</ref> The only time a flying lizard comes to the ground is when a female is ready to lay her eggs. She descends the tree she is on and makes a nest hole by forcing her head into the soil. She then lays 2–5 eggs before filling the hole. She guards the eggs for approximately 24 hours, but then leaves and has nothing more to do with her offspring.<ref name=ross/> == Species == There are about 42 species.