A One Hour Old Dragon
Mo Healey, PhD Student

This was taken within an hour of this little painted dragon hatching out of his egg. Painted dragons use a modified beak to pierce their shell from the inside to begin the hatching process, which can take up to 24 hours. Once hatched, the beak falls away and the exhausted lizard is left to its own devices as once a female has buried her eggs she abandons them in order to lay another clutch elsewhere.