Research
An Australian dragon
Central Bearded Dragons belong to the agamid family and occur naturally across a broad area of inland and eastern Australia. Their familiar beard is a field of specialised throat scales that can expand and darken during social and defensive displays.
They are active by day, rely on external heat to regulate body temperature and use a varied landscape rather than remaining in one type of shelter or on one surface.
Research
More than a pet species
Pogona vitticeps is also used as a research model in studies of thermoregulation, colour change, sleep, brain organisation, sex determination and seasonal physiology.
That growing body of work is valuable, but it remains much smaller than the research available for mammals and common domestic animals. There are still many everyday questions about the species that have never been tested directly.