Common Spiny Agama
Agama hispida
Diagnosis 3
Sympatric species: Agama atra, A. anchietae & A. aculeata aculeata
Dorsal scales intermixed with strongly enlarged spinose scales which form somewhat longitudinal rows, versus slightly enlarged scattered dorsal scales in A. atra .
Head scales rough, keeled, or sub-conical, versus smooth, or slightly convex scales in A. atra or feebly keeled in A. aculeata aculeata (Figure 1).
Nostrils lateral, not tubular and below canthus rostralis, versus dorsal anterior oriented, tubular and on the canthus rostralis in A. atra & A. aculeata aculeata , versus tubular in A. anchietae .
Mid-snout scales enlarged and sub-conical (distinct from other species?).
Occipital enlarged (distinct from other species?-not A. anchietae ) (Figure 1).
Spines extending from neck to dorsal back of head, with groups of spines near the ear, versus short spines in A. atra or lack of spines near ear A. anchietae .
Ventral scales strongly keeled and mucronate (pointed), versus smooth and imbricate in A. atra & A. aculeata aculeata .
Limb scales similar to dorsal, strongly keeled with occasional enlarged ones (distinct from other species?), versus unequal upper limb scale in A. aculeata aculeata .
Longest toe and finger is the third, versus fourth equal or longer than third in A. atra & A. anchietae.
Tail with scattered enlarged spinose scales at base, versus scattered spinose caudal scales in A. anchietae.
Gough, L. H. (1909). The South African species of Agama. Annals of the Transvaal Museum, 1(3), 183-194.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Joachim Louis, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), uploaded by Joachim Louis
- (c) calebcam, all rights reserved, uploaded by calebcam
- (c) Alex Rebelo, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/705695
