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Kenyan Rock Agama

Agama lionotus

Published on Project Noah
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-1.31475, 36.8258

Field Notes

Description:

This male, of some 20 to 25 cm in length, was seen in full breeding season, when it develops these dramatic coloring - bright orange head and neck, dark or metalic blue body with white and bluish stripped tail.
Outside the breeding season, the male is plain brown.

Habitat:

Seen on a rocky cliff, overseeing a bushy vegetation and a river inside the Nairobi National Park. Kenyan rock agama is confined to a rather limited territory, mainly Kenya, but including the limitrophes regions of neighbouring countries (see references, the link to range map).

Notes:

Agamids are most common lizards, almost emblematic one, of Africa - I've seen and photographed them in every country visited... Very often seen on walls or rocks doing "push-ups" - very carefully observing his surroundings, while only his head keep bobbing up-down...

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (2)

I previously ID-ed this as Common Agama (Agama agama), but just now have consulted the distribution maps for the two species on IUCN website - and these maps claim the A. agama's range does not include East Africa. If that's the case, I don't see any other species but Kenyan rock agama...

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