[3][4] It was one of the first Australian reptiles to be named by Europeans, originally described by English zoologist George Shaw in Surgeon-General John White's Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales,[5] published in London in 1790.

[6] The lizard is well-known for its bright yellow mouth and well-developed vertebral crest, as well as the temperature-dependent sex determination of its offspring.

In 2017, the star Sigma Canis Majoris was officially named "Unurgunite" (a 19th-century transcription of nganurganity), due to its identification with the jacky dragon in Wergaia traditions.

The dark patches are interrupted by pale blotches that often blend together to form a continuous stripe from above the arm to the groin.

[4] Shine suggests, however, that the sex of the hatchling is determined soon after oviposition when the mother still has considerable control over the temperature of the nest.

This may falsify the hypothesis that TSD evolved in lizards so as to match the sex of the offspring with environmental conditions that may be unpredictable when the clutch is laid, as is most likely the case for turtles, tuataras, and crocodiles.

[9] In fact, recent research suggests TSD has evolved in lizards so as to ensure reproductive success in the offspring.

[7] Insects compose most of the diet of the jacky dragon, and include flies, moths, caterpillars, grasshoppers, and small beetles.

[3] Predators of young jacky dragons are numerous, and include small mammals, such as feral cats or rats, and other reptiles.

Adults face aerial predation from birds such as kookaburras, ravens, black-shouldered kites, and Nankeen kestrels.

[4] The dragons use visual cues such as the changing area over time, edge length, shape, and orientation in the recognition of aerial predators.

Various territorial displays include tail-waving, raising or lowering their bodies, head-bobbing, arm-waving, and darkening their colour.