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Phrynocephalus arabicus ANDERSON, 1894

IUCN Red List - Phrynocephalus arabicus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaAgamidae (Agaminae), Sauria, Iguania, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Arabian Toadhead Agama 
SynonymPhrynocephalus arabicus ANDERSON 1894: 377
Phrynocephalus arabicus — HAAS 1957: 67
Phrynocephalus nejdensis HAAS 1957: 68
Phrynocephalus nejdensis macropeltis HAAS 1957: 69
Phrynocephalus arabicus — WERMUTH 1967: 76
Phrynocephalus arabicus — BISCHOFF & SCHMIDTLER 1981
Phrynocephalus arabicus — BARTS & WILMS 2003
Phrynocephalus (Phrynocephalus) arabicus — BARABAOV & ANANJEVA 2007
Phrynocephalus arabicus — SINDACO & JEREMČENKO 2008
Phrynocephalus ahvazicus MELNIKOV, MELNIKOVA, NAZAROV, RAJABIZADEH, AL-JOHANY, AMR & ANANJEVA 2014
Phrynocephalus nejdensis — MELNIKOV et al. 2014
Phrynocephalus arabicus — MELNIKOV et al. 2014
Phrynocephalus macropeltis — MELNIKOV et al. 2014
Phrynocephalus ahvazicus — KAMALI 2020
Phrynocephalus nejdensis — ALOUFI et al. 2021
Phrynocephalus ahvazicus — SOLOVYEVA et al. 2023
Phrynocephalus nejdensis — SOLOVYEVA et al. 2023
Phrynocephalus arabicus — SOLOVYEVA et al. 2023 
DistributionSE Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Iran, S Iraq ?, Jordan

Type locality: Plateau of Hadramut, SE Arabia.

ahvazicus: Iran (Khuzestan); Type locality: Ahvaz, Khuzestan province, Iran.

nejdensis: Type locality: "Nafud, near Qana, North Nejd, WNW of Hail, Saudi Arabia".

macropeltis: CE Saudi Arabia; Type locality: "Dhahran [Az Zahrãn], Saudi Arabia" [approximately 26º17' N, 50º12' E].  
Reproductionoviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022) 
TypesSyntypes: BMNH 1946.8.28.33 (formerly BMNH 97.3.11.51) and BMNH 1946.8.28.34 (formerly BMNH 97.3.11.52).
Holotype: ZISP 27131 (formerly R-12713G2), adult male (Fig. 7). Paratypes. ZISP 25019 – 25023, ZISP 27088, ICSTZM6H 1291, 1292 (formerly ZISP 26645, 26646) and ZMMU R-12713G1, R-12713G3 – 12713G6 with the same data as Holotype [ahvazicus]
Holotype: CAS 84619 [macropeltis]
Holotype: HUJ 2711 [nejdensis] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (6376 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy: partly after LEVITON & ANDERSON 1967. Note that Melnikov et al. 2014 split P. arabicus into 4 species: arabicus, nejdensis, macropeltis, and ahvazicus. The description of Melnivkov is rather confusing, so their conclusions are sometimes murky. For instance, Figs 4a,b and Fig 5a say “Phrynocephalus sp. nov.” but it doesn’t say which species. Also, the map says “tissue samples” but doesn’t say of what. Ebrahimipour et al. 2021 found that P. ahvazicus is closely related to P. arabicus, hence they consider both as synonyms.

Distribution: See map in SMID et al. 2014 for distribution in Iran and map in Burriel-Carranza et al. 2019 for map in UAE. For localities see also map in Melnikov et al. 2014: Fig. 1 (although that shows only numbers, so it’s a pain to figure out what each number is, but 3 and 11 are macropeltis).

NCBI taxonID: 1788406 [ahvazicus] 
EtymologyNamed after the type locality. 
References
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