Karu's Horned Lizard

Karu's horned lizard is an agamid known only from Morningside Forest Reserve and three nearby unprotected localities in Sri Lanka. It is named for the zoologist G. Punchi Banda Karunaratne. The head is oval and longer than wide, and the snout appendage is short, made of more scales than the rostral scale alone. A backward-pointing V-shaped ridge marks the back of the forehead. The back is dark black-brown, the flanks brown or olive green, and some have orange-red patches on the upper lip (Wikipedia, general species account).

It prefers well-shaded forest at 1,000 to 1,100 m but has also been found in cardamom plantations with a forest canopy. It lays two eggs at a time. Nationally Critically Endangered (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012).