Whilst ringing at Sabkhat Al Fasl I
found a Schmidt's Fringed-toed Lizard Acanthodactylus
schmidti near the car and took a couple of photogrpahs of it. Schmidt's
Fringed-toed Lizard is one of the most abundant species in the genus Acanthodactylus found in Saudi Arabia
and occupies sandy plains, dunes and sabkhas (salt flats), particularly in
areas of scrubby vegetation. It was named after Karl Patterson Schmidt, with a
type locality of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia and it can be distinguished by the
exceptionally long fourth toe found on each of its rear feet. As its name
suggests it has 'fringes' of elongated scales along the sides of each toe,
which are thought to provide better traction on loose sand. It has a light
brown or coffee coloured back that is richly speckled with oval-shaped, pale or
white spots and can grow to 18 centimetres in length. They have a cylindrical
body with smooth, rectangular scales on the belly that are arranged in
well-defined rows and scales on the head that are larger than those on the rest
of the body. Little is known about the biology of the species but it is thought
that its main prey is ants and when prey is located they instantly go rigid,
suddenly quiver their tail and strike. It is a diurnal species that digs
burrows in the sand among the roots of vegetation and is found throughout the
Arabian Peninsula including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Kuwait,
Oman, southeast Iraq and south-west Iran.
