''Laudakia stellio '' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

agamid Agamidae is a family of over 300 species of iguanian lizards indigenous to Africa, Asia, Australia, and a few in Southern Europe. Many species are commonly called dragons or dragon lizards. Overview Phylogenetically, they may be sister to the I ...

lizard.Baig KJ et al. (2012)
"A morphology-based taxonomic revision of ''Laudakia'' Gray, 1845 (Squamata: Agamidae)".
''Vertebrate Zoology'' 62 (2): 213–260. (''Stellagama'', new genus, p. 222). also known as the starred agama or the roughtail rock agama.

Common names

Common names for ''L. stellio'' include dikenli keler, hardim, hardun, kourkoutas (

Cypriot Greek Cypriot Greek ( el, κυπριακή ελληνική or ) is the Varieties of Modern Greek, variety of Modern Greek that is spoken by the majority of the Cyprus, Cypriot populace and Greek Cypriot diaspora. It is considered a divergent dialect ...

), kourkoutavlos, painted dragon, roughtail rock agama, short-toed rock agama, sling-tailed agama, star lizard, starred agama, and stellion.

Geographic range

''Laudakia stellio'' can be found in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, western Asia and northern

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

; it has also been introduced to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

Description

''Laudakia stellio'' may attain a total length (including tail) of or slightly longer.

Behaviour and habitat

Like many agamids, ''L. stellio'' can change its color to express its mood. It basks on stone walls, rocks, and trees. It is usually found in rocky habitats, and is quite shy, being very ready to dive into cracks to hide from potential predators.

Etymology

The

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

"stellion" comes from Latin ''stellio'', ''stēlio'' (''stelliōn-'', ''stēliōn-''), from ''stella'',

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

. It may have referred to any spotted lizard.

Uses

For the indigenous people of Europe, and perhaps the Middle East, traditionally the excrement of the stellio was a popular medicine for the eyes, also used as a cosmetic, known as ''cordylea'', ''crocodilea'' or ''stercus lacerti'' (i.e. 'lizard shit'), the faeces being imported to European pharmacies from the Levant – a rarer and more potent form was acquired from monitor lizards in olden days (''stercus magni lacerti''). The dung was used to improve one's eyesight, as well as take away any itches and cure cataracts (webbe).

Subspecies

The following 2 subspecies, including the

nominotypical subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

, are recognized as being valid. *''Laudakia stellio daani'' *''Laudakia stellio stellio'' ''

Nota bene (, or ; plural form ) is a Latin phrase meaning "note well". It is often abbreviated as NB, n.b., or with the ligature and first appeared in English writing . In Modern English, it is used, particularly in legal papers, to draw the atten ...

'': A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than ''Laudakia''.

References

External links

European Field Herping Community
Laudakia Reptiles of Cyprus Reptiles of Europe Reptiles of Turkey Reptiles of the Middle East Reptiles of Iraq Reptiles of North Africa Reptiles described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{agamidae-stub