The yellow-spotted agama (''Trapelus flavimaculatus'') is a common
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
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
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
.
Geographic range
It is found in arid regions of the Middle East, north of the
Eastern Desert
The Eastern Desert (Archaically known as Arabia or the Arabian Desert) is the part of the Sahara desert that is located east of the Nile river. It spans of North-Eastern Africa and is bordered by the Nile river to the west and the Red Sea and ...
and northern Sinai, and the
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...
.
Habitat
It inhabits low land desert, particularly sandy areas.
Diet
It feeds mostly on insects.
Behaviour
During extremely hot weather, it may climb on bushes. It is
diurnal.
Description
Males are generally known by their remarkable blue colour on the ventral surface of their necks.
References
Further reading
*
Rüppell E. 1835. ''Neue Wirbelthiere zu der Fauna von Abyssinien gehörig. Amphibien.'' Frankfurt am Main: S. Schmerber. (''Trapelus flavimaculatus'', p. 12)
Trapelus
Reptiles described in 1835
Taxa named by Eduard Rüppell
{{agamidae-stub