Has anyone here looked into the Latin roots of the four Acanthosaura (mountain horned dragon) species? I'm curious as to what they mean... But bear with me, I'm not an expert at interpreting Latin.

Acanthosaura itself I'm quite certain means something close to "spined lizard," since acantha means spine or spinous process of a vertebra, and saura means lizard.

A. armata I'm leaning towards "armored" or "armed MHD" as armata appears close to arma, which would be defensive arms, weapons or armor.

A. capra I'm stumped on, as the only meaning I can find for capra is a "she-goat." Does this lizard look goat-like? Not really... Any ideas?

A. crucigera, cruci- I'm thinking has something to do with the cross, some photos I've found show a cross-like marking on the dorsal aspect of this species' neck, but their colour and pattern is apparently quite variable so nothing solid. Does anyone know what the suffix -gera means?

A. lepidogaster seems like "elegant MHD," as lepidus could mean charming, witty, elegant or pleasant. Anyone know what -gaster means?

I've also posted this on the Mountain/Tree Dragon forum.

Christina Miller
Herptiles.net

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