Physignattus Lowittii, the East Gippsland Water Dragon, grows to about half a metre in length but he has heavy dorsal scales and a verte­brae crest which makes him look like a miniature version of the pre-his- toric reptiles which hunted the jungle forests of the early world.

This lizard is mostly a grey-brown colour, but his throat is strikingly blotched with orange, red, blue, green and yellow around the throat. The spines along the back and around the face certainly give it a dragonish appearance.