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Uromastyx acanthinura BELL, 1825

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Higher TaxaAgamidae (Uromastycinae), Sauria, Iguania, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: North-African Mastigure, North African Spiny-tailed Lizard
G: Nordafrikanischer Dornschwanz, Veränderlicher Schleuderschwanz 
SynonymUromastyx acanthinurus BELL 1825: 457
Uromastrix richii GRAY 1825 (nom. subst.; fide WERMUTH 1967)
Uromastix acanthinurus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1837: 543
Uromastix acanthinurus — BOULENGER 1885: 406
Uromastix mutabilis – FISCHER 1885: 272.
Uromastix acanthinurus nigerrimus HARTERT 1913: 79
Uromastix acantherinus — CAMP 1923: 341
Uromastyx acanthinurus nigerrimus — MERTENS 1962: 426
Uromastyx acanthinurus nigerrimus — WERMUTH 1967: 101
Uromastyx acanthinurus — WERMUTH 1967: 100
Uromastyx acanthinura — SCHLEICH, KÄSTLE & KABISCH 1996: 298
Uromastyx acanthinurus acanthinurus — MANTHEY & SCHUSTER 1999: 109
Uromastyx acanthinura — BARTS & WILMS 2003
Uromastyx acanthinura — WILMS et al. 2009
Uromastyx acanthinura — TAMAR et al. 2017 
DistributionAlgeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt (incl. Sinai), NW Libya,
Mauritania ?, Western Sahara, Chad (Tibesti and Ennedi Mountains), Mali, Niger, N Sudan

acanthinura: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, Libya. Type locality: Africa. Restricted to near Biskra, north to el Kantara, Algeria, by FLOWER 1933.

nigerrimus: southern Algerian Sahara. Type locality: Southern Oued Mya (Algerian Sahara).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: OUM 7845 (Oxford University Museum of Natural History), N. Africa (brought by Capt. Lyon RN), Bell & Hope Collection. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: U. acanthinura is distinguished from U. thomasi and U. princepsby the longer and narrower tail (50.27–74.42 % of SVLin U. acanthinura vs. 25.00–36.16 % in U. thomasi and 34.62–52.55 % in U. princeps); from the species of the U. ocellata group and from U. macfadyeni by the arrangement of the annuli of the tail: last 8–21 forming a continuous scale row each (U. ocellata group and U. macfadyeni) vs. 2–5 whorls forming a continuous scale row in U. acanthinura; from U. aegyptia and U. occidentalis by the lower scale counts around midbody (238–322 in U. aegyptia, 297–301 in U. occidentalisvs. 146–195 in U. acanthinura), from U. geyri and U. alfredschmidti by the shorter tail (50.27–74.42 % of SVLin U. acanthinura vs. 65.45–98.06 % in U. geyri and 79.31–87.26 % in U. alfredschmidti). Diagnostic characters between U. acanthinura and the subspecies of U. dispar are: Lower number of scales around midbody [145–195 (mean. 165.6) in U. acanthinura vs. 187–227 (mean: 205.0) in U. d. dispar]; lower number of ventrals [74–96 (mean. 83.1) in U. acanthinura vs. 88–118 (mean: 104.5) in U. d. flavifasciata] and lower number of subdigital scales [9–15 (mean: 12.7) in U. acanthinura vs. 15–18 (mean: 16.4) in U. d. maliensis]. U. acanthinura is differentiated from U. nigriventris by being much less colourful and lacking red, green and citreous colouration. 
CommentStatus of Uromastyx temporalis unclear.

Illustrations: WILMS (2002: 30) for sexual dimorphism and juveniles in U. acanthinura.

Distribution: the populations of Uromastyx first named “acanthinura” for northern Chad and Sudan are now named U. dispar (L. Chirio, pers. comm. 5 Apr 2012). Not in Morocco (Martínez et al. 2019, and pers. comm. 18 Jan 2021).

Subspecies: WILMS et al. (2009) do not recognize subspecies of this species.Uromastyx acanthinura dispar and U. a. geyri are considered as a full species by WILMS & BÖHME 2001. Uromastyx acanthinura flavifasciata is considered as a subspecies of dispar by these authors. Uromastix acanthinura nigriventris ROTHSCHILD & HARTERT 1912 has been elevated to full species status. 
References
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