''Acanthocercus adramitanus'', also known
commonly as Anderson's rock agama or the Hadramaut agama, is a small
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
lizard
Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...
in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Agamidae
Agamidae is a family containing 582 species in 64 genera of iguanian lizards indigenous to Africa, Asia, Australia, and a few locations in Southern Europe. Many species are commonly called dragons or dragon lizards.
Overview
Phylogenetically ...
. The species is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...
to the
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world.
Geographically, the ...
.
Geographic range
''A. adramitanus'' is a found in
Oman
Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...
,
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
, and
Yemen
Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
.
Habitat
The preferred natural
habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
of ''A. adramitanus'' is rocky areas, at altitudes of or less.
Description
''A. adramitanus'' may attain a
snout-to-vent length (SVL) of . The tail is long, about twice SVL. Females are slightly smaller than males. Females may be bluish, and males may be intensely blue.
[ Arnold EN (1980). "The Reptiles and Amphibians of Dhofar, Southern Arabia". ''Journal of Oman Studies''. Special Report No. 2: 273–332. (''Agama adramitana'', pp. 291–292).]
Diet
''A. adramitanus''
preys upon
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...
s.
Reproduction
''A. adramitanus'' is
oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...
.
[
]
References
Further reading
* Anderson J (1896). ''A Contribution to the Herpetology of Arabia with a Preliminary List of the Reptiles and Batrachians of Egypt.'' London: R.H. Porter. (Taylor & Francis, printers). 122 pp. (''Agama adramitana'', new species, pp. 31–33).
* Barts M, Wilms T (2003). "''Die Agamen der Welt'' ". ''Draco'' 4 (14): 4–23. (in German).
* Schätti B, Gasperetti J (1994). "A Contribution to the herpetofauna of Southwest Arabia". ''Fauna of Saudi Arabia'' 14: 348–423. (''Acanthocercus adramitanus'', new combination, p. 366).
* Sindaco R, Jeremčenko VK (2008). ''The Reptiles of the Western Palearctic. 1. Annotated Checklist and Distributional Atlas of the Turtles, Crocodiles, Amphisbaenians and Lizards of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia.'' (Monographs of the ''Societas Herpetologica Italica''). Latina, Italy: Edizioni Belvedere. 580 pp.
Acanthocercus
Reptiles described in 1896
Taxa named by John Anderson (zoologist)
Reptiles of the Arabian Peninsula
{{Iguanidae-stub