Gippsland Water Dragon, Physignathus lesueurii howittii

Plate 81. Gippsland Water Lizard, Physignathus lesueri var howitti (now known as Gippsland Water Dragon, Physignathus lesuerii howittii)

The only difference I observe between this and the typical P. Lesueri of Queensland is the greater width in proportion to the height of the rostral plate in the Queensland one...As it is improbable such creatures would have so great a geographical range as to be common to Gippsland and Queensland, with such an enormous space between the rivers, I name the variety or probable species after that excellent geologist, magistrate, and bushman, my accomplished friend Mr. A. Howitt, who, with his multifarious and laborious duties, in so difficult a country to traverse, is always ready and willing to aid in any scientific investigation of the natural products of Gippsland, and who with infinite difficulty succeeded in procuring three specimens for me of this River-Lizard.

The proverb that "Cows far off have long horns" is ludicrously exemplified in the case of this Lizard, which has apparently given rise to the rumors of Crocodiles having been seen in Gippsland; a country so rugged and overgrown with forests and almost impenetrable scrub that it is an extremely rare occurrence for a white man to reach the habitat in which the Physignathus is found, in the upper reaches of the Buchan River.