| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
| Agamas | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| Genera | ||||||||||||
| Many: see text |
Agamas or Agamids are the Agamidae family of lizards, containing more than 300 species in Africa, Asia, Australia and a few in Southern Europe. They are very similar to the American sister group of iguanas. Agamas are active at day. Many species are perfectly adapted to a life in hot deserts, others live in the trees of tropical rainforests.
Agamas have well-developed, strong legs. Their tail can't be shed and regenerated like in some other lizard groups. Some agama species are able to change their colours.
The hardun (Laudakia stellio, formerly Agama stellio), or sling-tailed agama is distributed in West Asia, EgyptJumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiyah ( In Detail) Official language Arabic Capital Cairo Largest City Cairo President Hosni Mubarak Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif Area Total % water Ranked 29th 1,001,450 kmē 0. 6% Population Total (2003) Density Ranked 15th 74,718,797, CyprusCyprus (in Greek Kypros Κυπρος; and in Turkish Kibris is an island in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, 113 kilometres (70 miles) south of Turkey and around 120 km west of Syrian coast. Name and position The English-langua and many Greek islands (e.g. RhodesThis article is about the Greek island of Rhodes. For other uses, see Rhodes (disambiguation). Rhodes Greek (Rodos), is the largest of the Dodecanese islands, and easternmost of the major islands of Greece in the Aegean Sea. It lies approximately 11 miles, CorfuThis article is about the Greek island known in English as Corfu. There is also a place named Corfu, New York. Corfu (ancient and modern Greek , Kerkyra Latin Corcyra is an island of Greece, in the Ionian Sea, off the coast of Albania, from which it is se). This lizard is quite common. Frequently it can be seen sitting on walls.
Another species is the red-headed rock agama (Agama agama), a widespread lizard in Subsaharan Africa. Its original habitat is the savannaSavanna is a grassland dotted with trees, and occurs in several types of biomes. In savannas, grasses form the predominant vegetation type, usually mixed with herbs and shrubs, with trees scattered individually or in small clumps. Savannas are sometimes a, but today it also lives within villages and towns. These agamas form groups of ten to twenty. The "leader" is an old male, while females and young males constitute the other members of the group. The colour is dark brown at night, but after dawn the colours of the dominant male will change: the body is now light blue, head and tail brightly orange. These colours may change again dependent on the mood. For instance, if the male agamas fight, their head will become brown, and white spots appear on their body. Fights take place, when a male not belonging to the group appears. It will try to dispute the leadership of the dominant male. When fighting, agamas hiss and try to hit the head of each other with their tail. These strokes may be very violent and often result in haematomas or fractured jaws.
The females in the group are entirely brown. Often there is a highest-ranking female, that remains close to the leading male and tries to drive away other females.
Other species of interest: bearded dragon, flying lizard .