The southern flying lizard is brown with patches of grey that match the pattern of tree bark.

[4][5][6] In addition to the patagium, the hyoid apparatus (part of the tongue) expands throat lappets horizontally so that the head is also supported on its sides by small wing-like structures.

[7] [8] The species Draco dussumieri was first described as le dragon de Dussumier by André Marie Constant Duméril and Gabriel Bibron, who described it in 1837 in the fourth volume of their catalogue of the reptiles of the world.

The specific name, dussumieri, is in honor of Jean-Jacques Dussumier,[9] a French voyager who collected zoological specimens in India.

[11][12] D. dussumieri is found principally along the Western Ghats and associated hill forests of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Maharashtra southern India.

It is also reported from some parts of Eastern Ghats (Talakona) in Andhra Pradesh[13] Nelson Annandale recorded it as "common about ten miles north of Trivandrum, but apparently very local."

Males maintain small territories and bob their head and erect the gular pouch when they spot females nearby.

It leaps off with its hind legs making use of specially adapted musculature at the base of the tail before spreading the patagium.

[20] In a population estimate made in an areca plantation in the Western Ghats, the density was found to be about 13 per hectare.

Two species of bird that have been observed to feed on them include the Indian golden oriole and the black-capped kingfisher.

Draco dussumieri features prominently in a fictional work or novel named Carvalho (ಕರ್ವಾಲೊ) in Kannada written by Poornachandra Tejaswi.

[26] In this story, Carvalho (ಕರ್ವಾಲೊ), a middle-aged scientist searches for this flying lizard in the forests of the Western Ghats in the state of Karnataka India.