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Acanthocercus atricollis (SMITH, 1849)

IUCN Red List - Acanthocercus atricollis - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaAgamidae (Agaminae), Sauria, Iguania, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Blue-headed tree agama, Black-necked (Ridgeback) agama, Southern Tree Agama, Blue-throated Agama
G: Blaukehlagame 
SynonymAgama atricollis SMITH 1849: 14
Stellio capensis DUMÉRIL in DUMÉRIL et al. 1851: 106
Stellio nigricollis BOCAGE 1866: 43 (fide LOVERIDGE 1943)
Agama atricollis — BOULENGER 1885: 358
Agama atricollis — TORNIER 1897: 29
Agama atricollis — SCHMIDT 1919: 477
Agama atricollis — MERTENS 1955: 55
Agama atricollis atricollis — KLAUSEWITZ 1957: 161
Agama atricollis atricollis — WERMUTH 1967: 9
Agama atricollis — AUERBACH 1987: 95
Agama atricollis — LANZA 1983: 208
Stellio atricollis — LANZA 1990
Acanthocercus atricollis — JOGER 1991
Stellio atricollis — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 11
Stellio atricollis — BROADLEY 1991: 522
Laudakia atricollis — MANTHEY & SCHUSTER 1999: 76
Laudakia atricollis kuwuensis — MANTHEY & SCHUSTER 1999: 76
Acanthocercus atricollis — BARTS & WILMS 2003
Agama atricollis — COOPER 2005
Acanthocercus atricollis atricollis — BATES et al. 2014: 308
Acanthocercus atricollis — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 222
Acanthocercus atricollis — WAGNER et al. 2018 
DistributionRepublic of South Africa, Swaziland, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique

Type locality: Interior of Southern Africa and the country near Port Natal. Lectotype locality: ‘Port Natal’ [=Durban], South Africa, designated by Klausewitz (1957)  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: BMNH 1946.8.28.1 (formerly 1865.5.4.5), (designated by Klausewitz 1957), not ZMB 16906 as indicated by Denzer et al. 1997.
Syntypes: MNHN-RA 6485 (2158) [Stellio capensis] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: “Eine kräftige Form mit hellen dorsalen Flecken oder Streifen, die aus Schuppenkomplexen bestehen. Schwanz etwa ein Viertel bis ein Drittel länger als die Länge von Kopf und Rumpf.” (Klausewitz 1957: 162)


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CommentEcology: A. atricollis lives in structured colonies with one dominant male, several females and juveniles. Although generally known as diurnal, A. atricollis has been noted to show nocturnal activity in some situations (Reaney & Whiting 2003).

Diet: dominated by ants and beetles.

Types: DENZER et al. (1997) mention Agama (Stellio) Antinorii PETERS & DORIA, a name that was mentioned in the ZMB type catalogue but apparently was never published.

Synonymy: Agama cyanocephala FALK 1925 was removed from the synonymy of A. atricollis by Wagner et al. 2018.

Distribution: Specimens previously recognized as A. atricollis from Namibia and Angola are now referred to A. cyanocephalus (see this species). The detailed borders of the species’ distribution remain unknown. Both Klausewitz (1957) and this study recognize A. atricollis-like specimens from south-eastern DRC, which is outside the main distributional range. See map in Wagner et al. 2018: 794 (Fig. 10) and Wagner et al. 2021: 459 (Fig. 8). 
EtymologyNamed after Latin ater = black and collum = neck, although the neck is usually not black but dark at best. 
References
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