Agama is a genus of small-to-moderate-sized, long-tailed, insectivorous Old World lizards. The genus Agama includes at least 37 species in Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, where most regions are home to at least one species. Eurasian agamids are largely assigned to genus Laudakia. The various species differ in size, ranging from about 12 to 30 centimetres in length, when fully grown.
Laudakia is a genus of lizards, commonly known as Asian rock agamas, in the family Agamidae. The genus is found mostly in Asia, with some species in Southern Europe.
The genus Cordylus includes a wide variety of species of small to medium spiny lizards from Africa, collectively called girdle-tailed lizards or girdled lizards. All are diurnal and ovoviviparous. Most species are rupicolous (rock-dwelling), while a few species are arboreal or live in burrows. They defend themselves with osteoderms and by quickly retreating into rock crevices or burrows. Many species live in groups, and males defend territories.
Spilotes pullatus, commonly known as the chicken snake, tropical chicken snake, or yellow rat snake, is a species of large nonvenomous colubrid snake endemic to the Neotropics.
The Mexican Plateau horned lizard is a species of horned lizard in the family Phrynosomatidae. The species, also known commonly as the Chihuahua Desert horned lizard, is endemic to Mexico. There are five recognized subspecies. The specific epithet, orbiculare, comes from the Latin adjective orbis, meaning "circular".
The berg adder is a venomous viper species endemic to mountainous regions in southern Africa. No subspecies are currently recognized.
Laudakia stellio is a species of agamid lizard. also known as the starred agama or the roughtail rock agama.
Psammodromus algirus, known commonly as the Algerian psammodromus or the large psammodromus, is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is found in southwestern Europe and northwestern Africa.
The Sekukhune flat lizard is a species of lizard in the family Cordylidae. The species is endemic to South Africa. It has two subspecies.
Warren's girdled lizard is a species of relatively large, flattened lizard in the family Cordylidae. The species is native to Southern Africa.
The common agama, red-headed rock agama or rainbow agama is a species of lizard from the family Agamidae found in most of sub-Saharan Africa. To clear up centuries of historical confusion based on Linnaeus and other authors, Wagner et al. designated a neotype for the species, using a previously described specimen from Cameroon in the collection of the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig in Bonn. The species name was formerly applied to a paraphyletic collection of taxa ; subsequent mitochondrial DNA analysis of various populations indicates they represent separate species. Consequently, three former subspecies A. a. africana, A. a. boensis, and A. a. mucosoensis are now considered separate species, and A. a. savattieri is considered synonymous with A. africana.
Eryx colubrinus, the Egyptian or Kenyan sand boa, is a species of snake in the family Boidae. The species is endemic to Northern and Eastern Africa. Three subspecies are recognized.
The military ground snake is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to South America.
Panulirus homarus is a species of spiny lobster that lives along the coasts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It lives in shallow water, and feeds on the brown mussel Perna perna. It typically grows to a length of 20–25 cm (7.9–9.8 in). Alongside the dark green nominate subspecies, two red subspecies are recognised, one around the Arabian Peninsula, and one around southern Africa. It is the subject of small-scale fishery.
In the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, Carl Linnaeus described the Amphibia as:
Animals that are distinguished by a body cold and generally naked; stern and expressive countenance; harsh voice; mostly lurid color; filthy odor; a few are furnished with a horrid poison; all have cartilaginous bones, slow circulation, exquisite sight and hearing, large pulmonary vessels, lobate liver, oblong thick stomach, and cystic, hepatic, and pancreatic ducts: they are deficient in diaphragm, do not transpire (sweat), can live a long time without food, are tenatious of life, and have the power of reproducing parts which have been destroyed or lost; some undergo a metamorphosis; some cast (shed) their skin; some appear to live promiscuously on land or in the water, and some are torpid during the winter.
Vivian Frederick Maynard FitzSimons, born in Pietermaritzburg, was a notable herpetologist in South Africa. Also, he contributed to the collection of spermatophyte samples for the National Herbarium which has become part of the South African National Biodiversity Institute at the Pretoria National Botanical Garden. In 1937, together with Anna Amelia Obermeyer, he collected some of the earliest plant specimens from the Eastern Highlands of Rhodesia.
Lang's worm lizard is a species of amphisbaenian in the family Amphisbaenidae. The species is native to Southern Africa. There are two recognized subspecies.
Tropidosaura montana, also known commonly as the common mountain lizard and the green-striped mountain lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to South Africa. There are three recognized subspecies.
Phrynocephalus guttatus, also known commonly as the spotted toadhead agama, the Saissan toad-headed agama, the Central Asian toadhead agama, and Salensky's toadhead agama, is a species of lizard in the family Agamidae. The species is native to southeastern Europe and western Asia. There are five recognized subspecies.
