History of beardies

[iradog85]

I've been getting this question a lot lately, and I can't seem to find an answer online or in my Pogona vitticeps book. I dislike having no answer to such a popular question about my beloved Dimitri!

Exactly how old is the bearded dragon species? Have they been around since BEFORE dinosaurs? Anyone know?

 

[Gragrac]

I'm not an expert on the subject, but I've read that Agamid lizards (Not necessarily Pogona) have been around since around the late Jurassic, but they migrated to Australia no earlier than the Middle Miocene. So beardies may not have walked with dinosaurs, but they were around for things like marsupial lions, carnivorous kangaroos, giant wombats and terror birds.

 

[iradog85]

I'm not an expert on the subject, but I've read that Agamid lizards (Not necessarily Pogona) have been around since around the late Jurassic, but they migrated to Australia no earlier than the Middle Miocene. So beardies may not have walked with dinosaurs, but they were around for things like marsupial lions, carnivorous kangaroos, giant wombats and terror birds.

Thanks for the feedback. Where did you acquire this information?

 

[Gragrac]

I'm sorry, I can't find the page I learned this from. I believe it referenced "The Biology and Evolution of Australian Lizards"
by Allan Greer though. I'll keep looking though.