Body Parts of a Bearded Dragon – Beard, Spines, Third Eye

All 12 parts on the diagram

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From the side 9

Beard The beard is a throat pouch. It puffs out and darkens when the lizard feels threatened.
Head The head is broad and shaped like a triangle.
Eye The eyes have lids that close. Most lizards can blink.
Tail The tail is almost as long as the head and body.
Legs Four stout legs lift the body off the ground.
Side spines A row of pointed scales runs along each side. They look sharp but are rubbery.
Claws Each toe ends in a claw. Claws help a lizard climb and cling.
Nostril One nostril opens on each side of the snout.
Ear opening Lizards have an ear opening on each side. Snakes have none.

Head from above, legs from below 3

Third eye The third eye senses light. It is also called the parietal eye.
Femoral pores Femoral pores form a row under each thigh. They can look like waxy bumps.
Vent The vent is the opening under the tail. Waste and eggs leave through it.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-10-01 against (1) Wikipedia, text only: Central bearded dragon, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_bearded_dragon, and Pogona, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogona (the beard, a throat pouch that expands and darkens; pointed scales along each side of the throat, neck, head and body; broad triangular head; strong legs; tail more than half the length; parietal eye or third eye; femoral pores on the underside of the back legs; cloacal opening); (2) University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Animal Diversity Web, Pogona vitticeps, https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Pogona_vitticeps/ (the beard, an expandable throat pouch with spiky scales; broad triangular head, stout legs, robust tail); (3) Australian Museum, Central Bearded Dragon, https://australian.museum/learn/animals/reptiles/central-bearded-dragon/ (spiny scales round the rear of the lower jaw and along the lower sides of the body, which look spiky but are rubbery; tail almost as long as the head and body); (4) Merck Veterinary Manual, Description and Physical Characteristics of Reptiles, https://www.merckvetmanual.com/all-other-pets/reptiles/description-and-physical-characteristics-of-reptiles (lizards: scales and spikes, external ears, eyelids, clawed feet, tail; the vent as the opening of the cloaca); (5) books read by full-text search on archive.org: S. Grenard, The Bearded Dragon (1999), https://archive.org/details/beardeddragon0000gren (a small light-sensitive third eye); Bearded Dragons in Captivity (2007), https://archive.org/details/beardeddragonsin0000alle (nostrils; the cloacal opening or vent; femoral pores in front of the vent); M. O'Shea, Reptiles and Amphibians (2001), https://archive.org/details/reptiles-and-amphibians (lizards: movable eyelids, a long tail, external ear openings); S. Grenard, The Lizard (1998), https://archive.org/details/lizard00gren (toes that end in claws; femoral pores; parietal eye). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-01 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

The top drawing is a bearded dragon from the side. The bottom drawing shows what the side view hides: the top of the head, and the underside of the hind legs and tail.

Read the full guide

Side first, then above and below

Numbers 1 to 9 are on the side view: the beard, the head, an eye, the tail, the legs, the spines along the side, the claws, a nostril and an ear opening. Number 10 is the third eye, on the head seen from above. Numbers 11 and 12 are underneath: the femoral pores along each thigh and the vent at the base of the tail.

The beard is skin, not hair: a pouch under the jaw that the lizard can puff out.
The third eye is hard to see on a real lizard. It is one small scale on the crown.

Questions and answers

Why is it called a bearded dragon?

For its beard: a pouch of skin under the jaw, edged with spiky scales. When the lizard feels threatened it puffs the beard out, and the beard can darken, sometimes to near black.

Do bearded dragons have a third eye?

Yes. A small light-sensitive spot called the parietal eye sits on top of the head. It senses light; the two main eyes do the seeing.

Are a bearded dragon's spikes sharp?

They look sharp, but the spiny scales are quite rubbery. They make the lizard look bigger and less pleasant to eat.

What are the dots under a bearded dragon's back legs?

Femoral pores: a row of small pores along the underside of each thigh. They can look like waxy bumps.

Do bearded dragons have ears?

Yes. Like most lizards, a bearded dragon has an ear opening on each side of its head. Snakes have none.