Whilst birdwatching near Tanoumah I found a Snake-tailed
Fringe-toed Lizard. Owing to its superficial similarity to its larger congener Acanthodactylus
boskianus, the Snake-tailed Fringe-toed Lizard Acanthodactylus
opheodurus was described officially in 1980. As its name suggests, this
species has a particularly long tail and, in common with other Acanthodactylus
species, the toes are fringed with scales adapted for running over loose sand.
Like other lacertids, the body is long and cylindrical, and the legs are well
developed, with the animal having a basic body colour of grey, with seven dark
stripes running down the back and sides and a tail tinged red in immatures.
They live in a range of arid habitats, including plains with relatively hard
sand cover and low hills covered by dense bushes. It is a diurnal lizard and
lives in burrows excavated out of hard sand where it remains concealed for all
but a few hours of the day. Their burrows not only act as a shelter from
predators but also provide refuge from extreme temperatures. The snake-tailed
fringe-toed lizard is currently known from the Arabian Peninsula and several
other countries in the Middle East,
including Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq. I thank Mansur Al Fahad for confirmation on
identification of this record.
