Settler agame
| Settler agame | ||||||||||||
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A dominant male of Agama agama |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Agama agama | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The settler agama ( Agama agama ) is a lizard and belongs to the agam family (Agamidae).
features
Settler agamas have a distinctive color change that is only visible during the day. At night the settler agamas look uniformly gray. The settler dragons change their color depending on the mood. The females, young animals and lower-ranking males have a brown to gray body color. Dominant males can be recognized by their steel-blue or olive-green flattened bodies and their yellow, orange to red-colored head and tail. Depending on the subspecies, the color of the head extends over the front body. The males take on their splendid colors when they have warmed up in a raised place during the day. During pregnancy, the females show yellow to orange spots on the flanks and turquoise spots on the head. The females reach a body length of 30 to 40 centimeters, whereby they remain smaller than the males. In contrast to numerous iguanas or skinks, the long, round tail can not be shed.
Way of life
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Settler agamas live in colonies with a dominant male in a demarcated area. The group size can be up to 25 individual animals. The group members become active at sunrise. During the day, the dominant male is often on a raised place and shows his colors. The settler dragons also like to warm up in the blazing sun on an elevated spot. In doing so, they support themselves on their front legs and stretch their bodies, and occasionally their tails, diagonally upwards. When a sexually mature young male changes color, it is driven away by the dominant male and has to find its own territory. In a fight with a rival, the head of the fighting males turns brown and white dots appear over the body. The males make hissing noises and try to hit the opponent's head with their tail. Before that, however, they take a threatening position. In doing so, they jerk their heads back and forth, lift the body off the ground and unfold the folds of skin on the throat.
nutrition
There are clearly defined hunting areas for all group members. Settler agamas are not fussy about their diet. They eat everything they can snatch and devour. Their menu includes insects , spiders and other invertebrates , including small mammals and reptiles . Occasionally they also eat plant-based foods.
Reproduction
The mating season depends on the rainy season. The female prompts the male to mate with violent tail movements. After successful mating, the female lays three to eight eggs after about ten weeks in a self-dug, moist hollow between stones or plants. In order to hide the nest, the female smooths the earth over the clutch. During the development period, the eggs take the moisture out of the earth and enlarge in size. The young hatch after two to three months.
Occurrence
Settler agamas are found in most of sub-Saharan Africa and north of the Tropic of Capricorn . In Madagascar , the Comoros and the Cape Verde Islands , the animals were introduced by humans. In a distribution gap immediately south of Lake Victoria they are replaced by Agama mwanzae , in western Central Africa partly by Agama lebretoni . They inhabit trees, bushes, stony terrain, rocks or walls in steppes and savannahs, in the vicinity of human settlements and along the coast near the beach.
Subspecies
There are four subspecies:
- Agama a. agama ( Linnaeus , 1758)
- Agama a. africana ( Hallowell , 1844)
- Agama a. boensis ( Monard , 1940)
- Agama a. mucosoensis ( Hellmich , 1957)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Agama agama in The Reptile Database ; Retrieved January 22, 2011.
