Agama agama

Agama agama
Male
Naboisho Conservancy, Kenya
Female
Kakum National Park, Ghana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Agamidae
Genus: Agama
Species:
A. agama
Binomial name
Agama agama

The common agama, red-headed rock agama or rainbow agama (Agama 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 (numbered ZFMK 15222) for the species, using a previously described specimen from Cameroon in the collection of the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig in Bonn.[2] The species name was formerly applied to a paraphyletic collection of taxa (a so-called wastebasket); subsequent mitochondrial DNA analysis of various populations indicates they represent separate species.[3][4] 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.[5]

  1. ^ Wilms, T., Wagner, P., Rödel, M.-O., Luiselli, L., Segniagbeto, G., Niagate, B. & Jallow, M. 2021. Agama agama. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T172799A1374221. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T172799A1374221.en. Accessed on 22 January 2022.
  2. ^ Wagner, Philipp; Wilms, Thomas M.; Bauer, Aaron; Böhme, Wolfgang (2009). "Studies on African Agama. V. On the origin of Lacerta agama Linnaeus, 1758 (Squamata: Agamidae)" (PDF). Bonner zoologische Beiträge. 56: 215–223.
  3. ^ Leaché, A.D. et al. (2009). Phylogeny of the genus Agama based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data. Bonner zoologische Beiträge 56(4) 273-78.
  4. ^ Mediannikov, O.; Trape, S.; Trape, J-F. (2012). "A Molecular Study of the Genus Agama (Squamata: Agamidae) in West Africa, with Description of Two New Species and a Review of the Taxonomy, Geographic Distribution, and Ecology of Currently Recognized Species". Russian Journal of Herpetology. 19 (2).
  5. ^ "Agama". reptile-database.reptarium.cz. Czech Republic: The Reptile Database.