Vinu Mathew photographed a Blandford’s Agama Trapelus ruderatus in Dammam recently and kindly sent me the photos
and allowed me to reproduce them on my website. Although I thought I knew the
identification I asked a local expert Mansur Al Fahad to confirm, which he very
kindly did. Blandford’s Agama ranges from northeastern Jordan and southern
Syria, through northern and eastern Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and southern and
central Iran as far south as Shiraz (Rastegar-Pouyani 2000). The species occurs
from close to sea level to around 1,000 metres above sea level. It can be
moderately common in suitable habitat. This ground-dwelling species is
associated with low shrubs (Nitraria) on the fringe of sandy dunes in arid
areas and in sandy desert areas. It can sometimes be found perching on bushes
but is not found in modified areas. Blanford's Agama is similar to
Yellow-spotted Agama but has lines on its back which are missing on
Yellow-spotted Agama.
