''Saara asmussi'', also known commonly as the Iranian mastigure and the Persian spiny-tailed lizard, is a

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), ...

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 ...

belonging to 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 ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''asmussi'', is in honor of Baltic German

paleozoologist Palaeozoology or paleozoology (Greek: παλαιόν, ''palaeon'' "old" and ζῷον, ''zoon'' "animal") is the branch of paleontology and evolutionary biology that specifically deal with the study of prehistoric Prehistory, also calle ...

Hermann Martin Asmuss Hermann Martin Asmuss (31 May 1812 – 6 December 1859) was a Baltic German paleozoologist and professor at the Imperial University of Dorpat. Life Asmuss was born in Dorpat, present-day Estonia, the son of the writer Johann Martin Asmuss an ...

Geographic range

''S. asmussi'' occurs in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, southern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Description

''S. asmussi'' may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of , and a tail length of . Smith MA (1935). ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. II.—Sauria.'' London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 440 pp. + Plate I + 2 maps. (''Uromastix asmussi'', pp. 247–248).

Diet

''S. asmussi'' eats leaves, stems, and seeds of herbaceous plants.

Behavior

''S. asmussi'' excavates a burrow in which it shelters. If disturbed it lashes its heavy spiky tail in defense.

Reproduction

''S. asmussi'' 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

* Boulenger GA (1885). ''Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume I. ... Agamidæ.'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 436 pp. + Plates I–XXXII. (''Uromastix asmussii'', new combination, p. 409). * 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. . * Strauch A (1863). "''Characteristik zweier neuen Eidechsen aus Persien'' Characteristics of Two New Lizards from Persia. ''Bulletin de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg'' 6: 477–480. (''Centrotrachelus asmussi'', new species, pp. 479–480). (in German). Saara (lizard) Reptiles of Afghanistan Reptiles of Iran Reptiles of Pakistan Reptiles described in 1863 Taxa named by Alexander Strauch {{Agamidae-stub