Agamidae

Aloufi, Abdulhadi A., Amr, Zuhair S., Abu Baker, Mohammad A. & Hamidan, Nashat, 2019, Diversity and conservation of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine reptiles and amphibians in Saudi Arabia, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 204) 13 (2), pp. 181-202 : 190

Family Agamidae ( Fig. 7 )

Fifteen species belonging to six genera ( Acanthocercus , Phrynocephalus , Pseudotrapelus , Stellagama , Trapelus , and Uromastyx ) have been reported from Saudi Arabia. The status of species of the genus Phrynocephalus were subjected to revisions based on the morphological and genetic differences. Melnikov et al. (2014) differentiated between the members of the Phrynocephalus arabicus Anderson, 1984 complex. Their study revealed that Ph. arabicus sensu stricto is distributed in southern Arabia ( Yemen, Oman, southern Saudi Arabia), and Ph. nejdensis in north-western Arabia (southern Jordan, northern and central Saudi Arabia), while Ph. macropeltis is known in the eastern coastal Arabia (eastern Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates).

Rastegar-Pouyani (2000) published a controversial opinion on the identity of Trapelus persicus . He stated that the specific name “ ruderatus ” (Olivier, 1804) antedates “ persicus ” (Blanford 1804), so the new taxonomic combination is Trapelus ruderatus ruderatus (Olivier, 1804) (= the former T. p. persicus ), and the western subspecies T. p. fieldi has a new taxonomic combination. Therefore, the name “ persicus ” is no longer available and comes under the synonymy of “ ruderatus .” More recently, Ananjeva et al. (2013) clarified the systematic position of Trapelus ruderatus in relation to T. persicus , and for constancy and stability of the taxonomy of this group, the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ruled that these two species are separate. In addition, Pseudotrapelus aqabensis was added recently to the herpetofauna of Saudi Arabia by Aloufi and Amr (2015) and Tamar et al. (2016b).

Figures

Fig. 7. Agamids of Saudi Arabia. (A) Trapelus flavimaculatus. (B) Stellagama stellio. (C) Phrynocephalus nejdensis. (D) Pseudotrapelus sinaitus. Photos by A. Aloufi.