Xenagama batillifera (VAILLANT, 1882)
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Xenagama batillifera
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| Higher Taxa | Agamidae (Agaminae), Sauria, Iguania, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Vaillant’s Strange Agama, (Dwarf) Turnip Tail Agama |
| Synonym | Uromastix batilliferus VAILLANT 1882: 10 Aporoscelis batilliferus — BOULENGER 1885: 411 Agama batillifera — BOULENGER 1895: 533 Agama (Xenagama) batillifera — BOULENGER 1897: 130 Agama (Xenagama) batillifera — PARKER 1942: 54 Agama batillifera — WERMUTH 1967: 9 Xenagama batillifera — LANZA 1983: 209 Agama batillifera — BRYGOO 1988: 7 Xenagama batillifera — BARTS & WILMS 1997: 396.1 Xenagama batillifera — MANTHEY & SCHUSTER 1999: 111 Xenagama batilifera [sic]— BARTS 2001: 2 Xenagama batillifera — BARTS & WILMS 2003 Xenagama batillifera — SPAWLS et al. 2023 |
| Distribution | NW Somalia, E Ethiopia ? Type locality: Pays Comalis [=Somalia region]; lectotype locality: ‘Bender-Meraya [=Bender-Meraio] chez les Comalis Medjourtines’ |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Lectotype: MNHN-RA 5830, adult male collected by G. Revoil; originally four specimens (MNHN-RA 5830, MNHN-RA 5830A-C) among which one was exchanged, another is lost or also exchanged (MNHN-RA 5830B-C) and one is paralectotype (MNHN-RA 5830A). |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus): A genus of small to medium-sized agamid lizards, with adult males up to 190 mm total length. Tails short, in most species (X. batillifera, X. taylori, X. sp. n.) shorter than the SVL. Dorsal scales heterogeneous, keeled or smooth. Nasal scale on the canthus rostralis. Usually a distinct dorsolateral fold from neck to groin and sometimes the hindlimbs. Distinct from most species of the genus Agama by its heterogeneous body scalation and from all species by its tail arranged in rings. From other whorl-tailed lizards, it can be distinguished by pos- sessing only one scale ring per whorl at the upper tail base, sometimes two towards the tail tip. Lower side of the tail base without whorls or two scale rings per whorl towards the tail tip in some species [from WAGNER et al. 2013]. Additional details (756 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Similar species: All “X. batillifera” in captivity are actually X. wilmsi. Since the revision of WAGNER et al. 2013 X. batillifera is the rarest species of the genus. Type species: Uromastix batilliferus VAILLANT 1882 is the type species of the genus Xenagama BOULENGER 1895: 534. Phylogenetics: Pseudotrapelus forms a clade with Acanthocercus and Xenagama (e.g. Pyron et al. 2013) although the exact relationships remain controversial. for instance, Tamar et al. 2016 found Xenagama nested within Acanthocercus, indicating that it’s characteristic tail and other characters are derived and highly specialized. Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. |
| Etymology | Presumably named after the Latin batillus (shovel) and Greek fero (φέρω), bring, bear, carry, in reference to the shovel-shaped tail. The genus was named after Greek xenos (ξένος), stranger, foreigner + Latin Agama, lizard genus due to Daudin, 1802. [?]. |
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