''Phrynocephalus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

which includes 33

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 ...

of small and medium-sized

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 ...

lizards, commonly called toadhead agamas or toad-headed agamas, that inhabit open arid and semiarid environments of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

. The systematics of this genus are very complicated with many controversial points of view about the unclear

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spe ...

of this group. All representatives of this genus have adopted the so-called "sit and wait" hunting strategy and they actively use visual orientation when watching for food. In general, the

ecological niche In ecology, a niche is the match of a species to a specific environmental condition. Three variants of ecological niche are described by It describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors (for ...

and role of ''Phrynocephalus'' species in lizard communities of arid environments of Asia are poorly studied, but seem to be similar to that of ''

Phrynosoma Horned lizards (''Phrynosoma''), also known as horny toads or horntoads, are a genus of North American lizards and the type genus of the family Phrynosomatidae. The common names refer directly to their horns or to their flattened, rounded bodies, ...

Cophosaurus The greater earless lizard (''Cophosaurus texanus'') is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Cophosaurus''. It is closely related to the smaller, lesser earless lizards and other species in the genus ''Holbrookia'', and in fact was placed in ...

Holbrookia ''Holbrookia'' is a genus of earless lizards, known commonly as the lesser earless lizards, in the family Phrynosomatidae. The genus contains six recognized species, which are found throughout the Southwestern and Central United States and nort ...

, Uta'', and '' Sceloporus'' in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

, as well as ''

Moloch Moloch (; ''Mōleḵ'' or הַמֹּלֶךְ‎ ''hamMōleḵ''; grc, Μόλοχ, la, Moloch; also Molech or Molek) is a name or a term which appears in the Hebrew Bible several times, primarily in the book of Leviticus. The Bible strongly co ...

'' in Australia.

Species

The following 34

are recognized as being valid.''Phrynocephalus''
The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org. *'' Phrynocephalus ananjevae'' – Natalie's toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus arabicus'' – Arabian toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus axillaris'' – Yarkand toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus clarkorum'' – Afghan toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus erythrurus'' – Sagus Kul lizard *'' Phrynocephalus euptilopus'' – Alcock's toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus forsythii'' – Forsyth's toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus frontalis'' –

Shansi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus golubewii'' *'' Phrynocephalus guttatus'' – spotted toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus helioscopus'' – sunwatcher toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus hispidus'' – Dzhungar variegated toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus horvathi'' – Horvath's toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus interscapularis'' – Lichtenstein's toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus kulagini'' – Kulagin’s variegated toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus lutensis'' – Lut Desert toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus luteoguttatus'' – yellow-speckled toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus maculatus'' – blacktail toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus mystaceus'' – secret toadhead agama '' Phrynocephalus mystaceus'' in Astrakhan_Oblast,_Russia..html" ;"title="Russia.html" ;"title="Astrakhan Oblast, Russia">Astrakhan Oblast, Russia.">Russia.html" ;"title="Astrakhan Oblast, Russia">Astrakhan Oblast, Russia. *''Phrynocephalus ornatus'' *''Phrynocephalus persicus'' – Persian toadhead agama *''Phrynocephalus przewalskii'' – Nikolay Przhevalsky, Przewalski's toadhead agama *''Phrynocephalus putjatai'' *''Phrynocephalus raddei'' *'' Phrynocephalus reticulatus'' – reticulated toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus roborowskii'' – Roborowski's toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus rossikowi'' –

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus sakoi'' *'' Phrynocephalus scutellatus'' – gray toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus strauchi'' – Strauch's toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus theobaldi'' – Theobald's toadhead agama, toad-headed lizard, or snow lizard *'' Phrynocephalus versicolor'' – Tuvan toadhead agama *'' Phrynocephalus vindumi'' *'' Phrynocephalus vlangalii'' –

Ching Hai Ching Hai (born Trịnh Đăng Huệ;Vietnamese name consisting of three parts in the following order: a family name, a middle name and a given name. 12 May 1950), commonly referred to as ''Suma'' or '' Supreme Master Ching Hai ( Chinese: 清海� ...

toadhead agama ''

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

binomial authority In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Phrynocephalus''.

Species

References

Further reading