Agama aculeata

Agama aculeata
male, Damaraland, Namibia
Close up of female, Serengeti, Tanzania
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Agamidae
Subfamily: Agaminae
Genus: Agama
Species: A. aculeata
Binomial name
Agama aculeata
Merrem, 1820
Subspecies

A. a. aculeata Merrem, 1820
A. a. distanti (Boulenger, 1902)

Synonyms

Saura spinalis
Agama infralineata

The ground agama (Agama aculeata) is a species of lizard from the Agamidae family, found in most of sub-Saharan Africa (Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Republic of South Africa, Mozambique, S Angola, Tanzania, Zambia, Swaziland).[1]

Description

Snout-to-vent length is 76100 mm. With a triangular head and rounded snout, this agama is coloured olive to reddish-brown (sometimes grey or yellowish) with a light creamy-white to pink belly. There are four or five paired darker blotches on the backmany smaller blotches continue down the tail. Breeding males become blue on the sides of their heads.[2]

Female ground agama in Serengeti, Tanzania
Ground agama in Tanzania

References

  1. Agama aculeata at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database
  2. Branch, Bill. Field Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third revised edition. Sanibel Is., Florida:Ralph Curtis Books Publ., 1998.