This species was originally described in 1885 by the Belgian-British zoologist George Albert Boulenger, who named it Draco guentheri.
This species is also notable for having been collected by the Philippine national hero Jose Rizal during his exile in Dapitan, Mindanao in 1893. Rizal identified it as a new species of lizard which he tentatively named, Draco dapitani. Rizal sent specimens to Europe, to the German zoologist Benno Wandolleck. In 1900 Wandolleck, thinking Rizal's specimens represented a new species, described it and named it Draco rizali, thereby creating another synonym. Rizal's specimens, subsequently, were destroyed during the bombing of Dresden in World War II.[4]
In 1936 German zoologist Willi Hennig considered this lizard to be part of what he called a subspecies, Draco volans reticulatus. In 1993 German herpetologist Maren Gaulke raised it to full species status as Draco reticulatus. And most recently, in 2000, American herpetologist Jimmy McGuire and Filipino herpetologist Angel Alcala once again recognized Boulenger's original Draco guentheri as a valid species.
^ abBeolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN978-1-4214-0135-5. (Draco guentheri, p. 110).
Boulenger GA (1885). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume I. Geckonidæ, Eublepharidæ, Uroplatidæ, Pygopodidæ, Agamidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 436 pp. + Plates I- XXXII. (Draco guentheri, new species, pp. 257–258 + Plate XX, Figure 2).
McGuire JA, Alcala AC (2000). "A Taxonomic Revision of the Flying Lizards (Iguania: Agamidae: Draco) of the Philippine Islands, with a Description of a New Species". Herpetological Monographs14: 81–138. (Draco guentheri, p. 100).
Wandolleck B (1900). "Zur Kenntnis der Gattung Draco L.". Abhandlungen und Berichte des Königlichen Zoologischen und Anthropologischen-Ethnologischen Museums zu Dresden9 (3): 1–16. (Draco rizali, new species, p. 15–16 + Figures 6, 17). (in German).
