Thompson & Thompson: Western bearded dragon, an early coloniser of rehabilitated areas 
Habitats traversed 
Pogona minor regularly climbed into and over bushes 
and piles of logs (often created when earth-moving 
equipment had cleared vegetation for a road or track) 
during their daily movements. They often moved into 
the canopy of shrubs that were between 40 and 150 cm 
high, and the thread trail indicated in some instances 
that these lizards moved around (perhaps foraged) in 
these bushes. The mean number of bushes and log piles 
climbed over or foraged in each day when the lizard 
moved from its overnight retreat was 4.5 ± 0.61 (n = 317). 
This equates to one bush or log pile visited per 28.04 m 
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September 
JjllL 
1 
December 
January 
Mill I 
April 
l j. 4- M 4 -1-|l| i | 
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30 50 70 90 110 130 150 
SVL (mm) 
Figure 1. Snout-to-vent lengths of P. minor captured in pit-traps 
in the Ora Banda area during September, December, January 
and April showing the month which hatchlings (open bars) 
entered the population. 
of foraging distance travelled. Thread trails indicated that 
P. minor regularly crossed unvegetated areas or bare 
ground. 
Reproduction 
Three female P. minor were recorded as laying eggs in 
the field. One female dug two 'test' holes about 100 mm 
deep, one on 4 December and another on 6 December, 
and subsequently laid eggs later on 6 December. This 
female dug its burrow into the side of a mound so that 
the burrow was approximately horizontal. After laying 
her eggs she dug a vertical exit hole. The burrow 
entrance was o shaped and approximately 110 x 80 mm. 
The thread retrieved from the hole indicated that it was 
about 200 mm deep. A second P. minor dug its burrow on 
9 December into flat ground and backfilled the hole so 
the disturbance was barely detectable. Again the thread 
left in the hole indicated the burrow was about 200 mm 
deep. Both of these egg chambers were excavated in 
April 2002 and seven hatched egg-shells were present in 
each burrow. Another female P. minor was recorded 
laying eggs in the field on 17 January. All egg burrows 
and 'test' holes were in open unvegetated areas, in full 
sunlight. Pit-trap data indicated that hatchlings were not 
present in early to mid December and first appeared in 
January (Fig 1). In January, hatchlings had a SVL in the 
range 35-50 mm; by April hatchlings had a 60-90 mm 
SVL. Two hatchling P. minor were caught in pit-traps on 
two waste dumps, suggesting that the colonising adults 
may be successfully reproducing in rehabilitated areas or 
very near by. No nesting burrows were actually observed 
on waste dumps. 
Mean pre-oviposition body mass for three gravid 
females removed from the study site was 67.7 g. 
Oviposition occurred on 14, 16 and 19 October. Eggs 
incubated at 27.5 ± 1.0 °C took a mean of 64 days to hatch 
(Table 1). Neonates had a body mass of 1.74 ± 0.10 g, SVL 
of 36.1 ± 0.61 mm and tail length of 50.5 ± 2.10 mm (n 
=8). These captive-bred P. minor grew at the rate of 0.17 
mm day* 1 and 0.02 g day* 1 for the first three months. 
Table 1 
Clutch mass, incubation period and neonate size for three 
clutches of P. minor. Measurements are mean (± se where 
applicable). 
Female A 
Female B 
Female C 
Date of egg laying 
14/10 
16/10 
19/10 
Pre-oviposition body 
72.5 
72.5 
58.2 
mass (g) 
Post-oviposition body 
46.0 
47.3 
40 
mass (g) 
Clutch mass (g) 
26.5 
25.2 
18.2 
Relative clutch mass (%) 
36.6 
34.8 
31.3 
Clutch size 
9 
8 
10 
Mean egg mass (g) 
2.9 
3.2 
1.8 
Hatch dates 
24/12 
24 & 25/12 
28-30/12; 1/1 
Incubation period (days) 
61 
59,60 
70, 72, 74 
Number of hatchlings 
1 
4 
3 
Mass of hatchling (g) 
1.3 
1.9 ± 0.03 
1.7 ±0.21 
SVL of hatchling (mm) 
35 
36 ± 0.82 
37 ±1.33 
Tail of hatchling (mm) 
49 
49 ± 2.95 
53 ± 4.48 
3 
