Identification
Body Length: 78 – 83 mm; Tail length: 120 – 259 mm. Head longer than wide; head width and height are approximately equal. Eyes with movable eyelids, the upper eyelid covered with numerous small scales. No spines on the eye sockets. Tympanum shallow and visible, with 2 distinct spines above the tympanum, no more than 2 mm high. Nuchal spines and neck spines long, connecting with a row of dorsal spines that gradually shorten posteriorly.
The frontal and parietal regions are slightly concave. Sharp canthal and supraorbital ridges are present. Nostrils are round; the nasal plate touches the first supralabial scale. The rostral scale is rectangular, twice as wide as high, bordered by 5 small scales posteriorly and 2 supralabial scales. The mental scale is triangular, its outer boundary larger than the rostral scale; there are 4 pairs of postmental scales separated from the infralabial scales by a row of small scales. There are 10 – 11 supralabial scales and 9 – 11 infralabial scales on each side. Scales on the head are smooth and of various sizes; scales on the forehead are larger than those on the crown; scales on the back are wide, all the pointed tips facing backwards and upwards, wider than the scales on the belly. There are 43 – 51 scale rows around the body. Scales on the chin, throat, belly, tail, and limbs are prominently keeled. There are 9 – 10 lamellae under digit I, 15 – 17 lamellae under digit IV of the forelimbs; 10 – 11 lamellae under digit I, 20 – 25 lamellae under digit IV of the hindlimbs.
The body color is pale yellow, brownish-gray, or grayish-blue with dark bands across the body. Dark streaks radiate from the eyes. The chin angle and anterior shoulders are light blue, the throat is pink interspersed with black streaks. The round tail has alternating light and dark rings that fade posteriorly. Juveniles are often light brown, with two white stripes on the sides of the body.
Biology and Ecology
This species is commonly found in parks, gardens, cultivated land, wastelands, and forests, where it lives among low vegetation and grasses. Adult males often appear on fences and other conspicuous locations. The main food source is various insects and other small animals. At the beginning of the rainy season, the female uses her forelimbs to dig a hole in the ground, lays 4 – 12 eggs, covers them up, and erases all traces. Eggs are 14 x 8 mm in size; hatchlings emerge after five to seven weeks, measuring 7 cm (including the tail); they reach maturity within a year.
Distribution
Vietnam: This species is found in almost all provinces of Vietnam.
World: This species is widely distributed from Sri Lanka, India, and most of Southeast Asia through southern China, including Hainan; It is not recorded in southern Malaysia and has recently been recorded in Singapore.