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Trapelus mutabilis (MERREM, 1820)

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Higher TaxaAgamidae (Agaminae), Sauria, Iguania, Squamata (lizards)
SubspeciesTrapelus mutabilis pallidus (REUSS 1834)
Trapelus mutabilis mutabilis (MERREM 1820)
Trapelus mutabilis poppeki WAGNER, MELVILLE, WILMS & SCHMITZ 2011 
Common NamesE: Desert Agama 
SynonymAgama mutabilis MERREM 1820: 50
Trapelus aegyptius CUVIER 1829
Agama inermis REUSS 1834: 33 (fide MERTENS 1922)
Agama gularis REUSS 1834: 36 (fide MERTENS 1922)
Agama mutabilis — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1837: 505 (part)
Trapelus aegyptius DUVERNOY in CUVIER 1848 (fide ANDERSON 1898)
Agama agilis — EICHWALD (= inermis fide BOULENGER 1891)
Agama mutabilis — BOULENGER 1885: 338
Agama aspera WERNER 1893: 359
Agama latastii BOULENGER 1885: 344
Agama inermis — BOULENGER 1885: 344
Agama leucostigma — BOULENGER 1885: 348 (nom. subst.)
Agama inermis — DE GRIJS 1899: 401
Agama inermis — ANGEL 1923
Agama inermis — ANGEL 1932: 386
Agama mutabilis — WERMUTH 1967: 19
Agama mutabilis — PAPENFUSS 1969
Agama agnetae — WELCH
Agama mutabilis — JOHANN 1981
Agama mutabilis — BRYGOO 1988: 3
Trapelus mutabilis — SCHLEICH, KÄSTLE & KABISCH 1996: 291
Trapelus mutabilis — PADIAL 2006

Trapelus mutabilis pallidus (REUSS 1834)
Agama pallida REUSS 1834: 38
Agama deserti LICHTENSTEIN 1823 (fide WAGNER et al. 2011)
Agama loricata REUSS 1834: 40 (fide MERTENS 1922)
Agama nigrofasciata REUSS 1834: 42 (fide MERTENS 1922)
Agama leucostygma REUSS 1834: 44 (fide MERTENS 1922; partim)
Agama pallida — BOULENGER 1885: 348
Agama pallida — ANDERSON 1898: 100
Agama pallida — SCHMIDT & MARX 1956
Agama pallida — HAAS 1957: 65
Agama mutabilis — WERMUTH 1967: 19
Agama pallida — GORMAN & SHOCHAT 1972
Agama pallida — ESTERBAUER 1985
Trapelus pallidus — DISI et al. 2001: 151
Trapelus mutabilis pallidus — WAGNER et al. 2011
Trapelus pallidus — IBRAHIM 2013
Trapelus pallidus — BAHA EL DIN 2013
Trapelus pallidus — ALOUFI et al. 2023

Trapelus mutabilis poppeki WAGNER et al. 2011
Trapelus mutabilis poppeki WAGNER, MELVILLE, WILMS & SCHMITZ 2011: 896
Trapelus mutabilis poppeki — BAUER et al. 2017 
DistributionLibya, Egypt, N Chad, N Niger, Sudan (Jumhūriyyat), NW Saudi Arabia

Type locality: “in Aegypto”.

pallidus: Egypt (incl. Sinai), Syria, Jordan; Type locality: “Ober-Ägypten”.

poppeki: Libya; Type locality: Libya: east of Tarbu, 24.48.27°N, 16°19’11’’E, 490 m elevation.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesNeotype: ZFMK 64395: Egypt, 10 km northwest of Cairo; leg. Hans-Werner Herrmann, 1990.
Holotype: SMF 10007 [pallidus]
Holotype: ZFMK 63678: juvenile, leg. Hemmo Nickel, ix.1996 (Fig. 7). Paratype: ZFMK 20848: female, Libya: Tripolis, leg. W. Schlüter, 1913 [poppeki]
Syntypes: ZMB 767, ZMB 768-769 sowie ZMB 771= Agama ruderata ?, ZMB 55736 (vormals ZMB 771 part.) [deserti] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus). Tympanum small, diameter less than half of the orbit, deeply sunk. Head usually rather high than short. Caudal scales not forming distinct annuli. Only males with callous precloacal scales (Wagner et al. 2011: 893).


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CommentSynonymy: Possible synonymy between T. mutabilis and Agama pallida is discussed in Leviton et al. (1992) who list Trapelus pallidus as a separate species.
Agama pallida has been synonymized with Agama mutabilis by WERMUTH 1967 and others. Both “species” are very similar or identical. WERMUTH (1967) also listed Agama agnetae as synonym of Agama mutabilis. Synonymy mostly after WERMUTH 1967 and WAGNER et al. 2011.

Distribution: Not in Israel where it is replaced by T. agnetae. Not in Morocco (Martínez et al. 2019, and pers. comm. 18 Jan 2021).

Illustration in BARTS & WILMS 2003.

Type species: Agama mutabilis Merrem, 1820 is the type species of the genus Trapelus CUVIER 1817.

Types: One of the syntypes, ZMB 760, is actually Trapelus pallidus (fide Daniel Melnikov 2012, TILLACK, pers. comm. 22 Jan 2014)

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin mutabilis = changeable, apparently for the variable color pattern.

The genus was named after Greek trapelos (τραπελός), easy to turn, to flip. [?]. 
References
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