Uromastyx Lizard

Habitat

• Uromastyx acanthinura occupies desert habitats, but specifically occupies rocky areas that can support its burrows.
• In the desert, its most common habitats are rocky or semi-rocky sandy areas and, rarely, open sandy desert.
• The burrows that this species builds are often beneath bushes or in high rocky cliffs.

Physical Description

• North African spiny-tailed lizards attain a maximum total body length of 40 to 43 cm and an adult mass of 450 g.
• These lizards have a dorsally flattened body and the tail, as the name would suggest, is large and covered with ringed spines.
• Individuals may exhibit wide variation in color as the scales of adults are at times either a mottled red, orange, green, or yellow, though the basic color is gray.

Conservation Status

• The international trade of Uromastyx acanthinura is currently regulated by CITIES and is listed with all other Uromastyx species in Appendix II.
• Successful trade regulation is difficult to enforce as many can be sold through underground markets.
• This species is often misidentified, therefore making regulation increasingly difficult.
• Additional threats to this species includes agricultural grazing on plants that U. acanthinura commonly eats which creates competition for resources.
• More important factors that threaten its survival tend to come from humans through the pet trade and trapping for food and medicine.
• Road mortality is of great concern as the heat-absorbing roads are an attractive basking spot for these lizards.