Ground agama

Introduction: The Ground agama (Agama aculeata) is a medium-sized lizard which has a triangular head with a rounded snout. The tail is shorter in the female than in the male, but in both sexes the tail is usually longer than the head and body. Despite the name, they are known to climb into low shrub to bask and dig a small hole in loose soil at the base of a bush to rest or hide. They are solitary creatures but form monogamous pairs in the breeding season.

Ground agamas run as fast as they can with their tails curved upwards when disturbed, stopping suddenly to hug the ground in the hope their natural camouflage tricks chasing predators such as the greater kestrel and other small raptors.

Distribution: Semi-desert and sandveld savannah throughout Namibia although they are absent from the Namib Desert.

Diet: Ants or termites ambushed in lines coming and going from their nests.

Colouring: The body is olive to reddish-brown, often with a distinct grey-yellow dorsal streak usually with a thin central black line. The belly is creamy-white to pale dirty pink.

Breeding: Females lay between 8 t 18 eggs in a hole dug in sandy soil, often under a stone or at the base of a bush. Breeding begins in the early summer and a 2nd clutch of eggs is sometimes laid in February.

Size: SVL 75 to 100mm. Max SVL 117mm for males, 106mm for females.