About Gilbert

Scientific name - Chlamydosaurus kingie pronounced kluh-MID-uh-SOR-uhs KIN-jee-eye

Gilbert is a frill-necked lizard belonging to a family of lizards called ‘dragons’. He’s also known as a frilled neck lizard or a frilled dragon.

He was named after William Gilbert, a physician who is considered by many to be the “father of electricity and magnetism”. Just as William Gilbert inspired Galileo, our Gilbert is committed to inspiring young scientists to think about how electricity is used, particularly focussing on safety and efficiency.

Facts about Frill-necked lizards

Habitat: Frill-necked lizards generally live alone in trees of woodlands and dry forests in the hot northern and north-western parts of Australia. They are not an endangered species however the more we clear the land where they live the more threatened they become.

Behaviour: They like to bathe in the sunshine to keep warm like other reptiles and love to eat all kinds of small insects and spiders. Frill-necked lizards can lie very still and their camouflaged skin helps them go unnoticed to their prey. This also helps frill-necked lizards to easily catch their prey before they have a chance to escape. If they feel threatened by other species they rise on their hind legs, open their yellow-colored mouth, unfurls the colorful, pleated skin flap that encircles its head, and hisses. If an attacker is unintimidated by these antics, the lizard simply turns its tail, mouth and frill open, and runs, legs splaying left and right. It continues its deliberate run without stopping or looking back until it reaches the safety of a tree.