Speckled lizard

The speckled lizard, also known as the painted lizard, painted dragon, and the alorian gila, is a species of venomous lizard native to South Alor.

Description
The speckled lizard is the largest extant helodermatid native to South Alor. Its snout-to-vent length can reach about 51 centimeters (20 inches). The tail is about 45% of the body size, although the largest specimens may reach 100 to 160 centimeters (39 to 63 inches) in total length. They are significantly heavier than other helodermatids, reaching a body mass of up to 37 kilograms (82 pounds). They have a stout snout, massive head, and a long stubby tail used to store fat. They are greyish purple in color with light orange patterns that vary in each individual.

Habitat
They inhabit scrubland, succulent desert, and oak woodland, seeking shelter in burrows, thickets, and under rocks in locations with a favorable microclimate and adequate humidity. Speckled lizards depend on water resources and might be observed in puddles of water after a summer rain. They avoid living in open areas such as flats and open grasslands.

Ecology
Speckled lizards spend most of their times sleeping in their burrows and are active in the morning during the dry season (spring and early summer). The lizards move to different shelters every four to five days up to the beginning of the summer season. By doing so, they always try to optimize for a suitable microhabitat for survival. Later in the summer, they may be active on warm nights or after a thunderstorm. Speckled lizards are relatively fast for their size, and have high endurance and maximal aerobic capacity (VO2 max) for a lizard.

Diet
The speckled lizard's diet primarily consists out of medium-sized mammals such as young parvocadas and rodents. They may also feed on sauramphastids, lizards, neoreptiliomorphs, insects, carrion, and eggs of birds, lizards, magnasaurs, and tortoises. Youngsters can swallow up to 50% of their body weight at a single meal. Adults may eat up to one-third of their body mass in one meal.