Agama caucasian development of claws. Steppe agama - Trapelus sanguinolentus. Migration of the Caucasian Agama

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(Pallas, 1814)
(= Agama sanguinolenta (Pallas, 1814); Agama aralensis Lichtenstein, 1823)

Appearance. lizards medium sizes with a slightly flattened body. Dimensions bodies with a tail up to 12 cm; males are somewhat larger than females. Head large and relatively high, has a heart-shaped shape and is sharply delimited from the neck. Eardrum located on the surface, so that there is a clearly defined external auditory meatus. Above the ear there are 2-3 elongated spiny scales. The upper body is covered with uniform, rhomboid, ribbed, overlapping scales. Lateral, thoracic and ventral scales with blunt ribs, while throat scales are smooth or with underdeveloped ribs. Ribbed tail scales are arranged in oblique rows that do not form transverse rings:

Upper tail scales of agamas:
1 - Himalayan agama (Laudakia himalayana), 2 - Caucasian agama (Laudakia caucasia), 3 - Khorasan agama (Laudakia erythrogastra), 4 - Turkestan agama (Laudakia lehmanni) and 5 - steppe agama

Fingers almost round. The fourth toe on the hind limbs is longer than the third.

Coloring. The upper side of the body is gray or yellowish-gray, the underside is white. Juveniles have one row of light gray more or less oval spots along the spine, continuing to the base of the tail, and two rows of elongated spots of the same color on the sides of the body; between the spots of two adjacent rows there are larger dark brown or dark gray spots. Unsharp dark transverse stripes are visible on the upper side of the legs and on the tail. With the onset of sexual maturity in males, dark spots almost disappear, and light gray ones darken; in females, the juvenile pattern is generally preserved. The color of the body can change under the influence of temperature or depending on the physiological state of the animal, while demonstrating sexual dimorphism. In males, when excited, the throat, body sides, belly and limbs become dark blue or black-blue, cobalt blue spots appear on the back, while the tail becomes bright yellow or orange-yellow in color. Under the same conditions, the general background of the body of the female becomes bluish or greenish-yellow, the spots on the back become orange or rusty-orange, and the tail takes on the same color as in males, but less bright.

Spreading. The species is distributed in the deserts and semi-deserts of the eastern Ciscaucasia, Central Asia and Kazakhstan, as well as in northern and northeastern Iran, northern Afghanistan, and on the eastern border of its range it also penetrates into northwestern China. In Central Asia, the northern border of the range runs somewhat south of the line of the Emba River from the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea, goes around the Mugodzhar mountains from the south, and through the lower reaches of the Turgay and the valley of the middle reaches of the Sarysu river descends to the northern coast of Balkhash, further reaching the foothills of Tarbagatai. Along the river valleys it penetrates into the foothills of the Tien Shan and Pamir-Alay, meeting in the vicinity of the city of Osh in Kyrgyzstan and Chubek in southwestern Tajikistan.

Systematics of the species. In the eastern Ciscaucasia, isolated from the main range within Chechnya, Dagestan and the Stavropol Territory, the nominative subspecies is widespread. Trapelus sanguinolentus sanguinolentus, and the rest of the vast range of the species is inhabited by the East Caspian subspecies Trapelus sanguinolentus aralensis Lichtenstein, 1823.

Habitat. It lives in sandy, clay and rocky deserts and semi-deserts, preferring areas with shrubs or semi-woody vegetation, as well as on gentle rocky slopes in the foothills at an altitude of up to 1200 m above sea level, along the outskirts of loosely fixed sands, along river banks and in riparian forests. The northern border of the range quite clearly correlates with the northern border of the desert zone, going beyond its limits only in the eastern Ciscaucasia.

Like other species with such a vast range, the steppe agama has a shift in biotopic preference, while in the isolated western part of its range, the agama is confined only to sandy soils, while in the Asian part it is one of the most eurytopic reptile species. It does not avoid the proximity of a person, settling on the outskirts of settlements and along roadsides. It uses burrows of gerbils, ground squirrels, jerboas, hedgehogs, turtles, voids under stones and cracks in the soil as shelters.

Activity. In the hot time of the day, agamas often climb the branches of shrubs, thus protecting themselves from overheating on the soil heated by the sun. From here, sexually mature males survey their individual territory, protecting it from the intrusion of competitors. In the eastern Karakum, agamas spend the night on the bushes quite often. Under optimal conditions, a very high number is observed, up to 10 individuals per 1 ha. After wintering in different parts of the range and depending on the climatic conditions of the year, they appear in late February - March - early April.

Reproduction. Agamas begin to breed after the second wintering at the age of about two years. Pairing in southern Kazakhstan it lasts from the beginning of April to May. First laying eggs in southern Turkmenistan occurs already in late April - early May. Depending on age, the female lays 4-18 eggs size 9-13 x 18-21 mm per season, 2-3 clutches are possible. The eggs are laid in a burrow or in a cone-shaped hole dug by the female. Young size 80-100 mm (with a tail) appear from the second half of June until late autumn.

Food. The basis of nutrition is insects, they also feed on spiders, centipedes and, to a small extent, plant foods.

Similar types. It is well distinguished from other agamas by its bright color; from mountain agamas - the absence of a ringed tail; from the ruin agama - uniform scales of the upper surface of the body and larger sizes. It differs from round heads by the presence of an external ear hole.

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Steppe Agamas (Agama sanguinolenta) are Central Asian lizards from the large Agamidae family. It is difficult not to notice them or confuse them with anyone: in their habitats they often catch the eye of a person and even let him close to them, allowing them to see themselves in all their glory.

This is a medium-sized lizard: the total length of its body does not exceed 30 cm, more than half of which falls on the tail.

The body is valky, covered with rhombic ribbed scales overlapping one another like tiles. The head is relatively large, high, with a rounded muzzle and is also covered with small scales. The cervical interception is strongly pronounced, further emphasizing the size of the head. On the sides of the back of the head and neck there are scratches in the form of spines, the shields of its front part form a pronounced edging on the sides above the nostrils and eyes. Behind the eyes there is an ear opening, in the depths of which the eardrum is located.

Her limbs are powerful, with developed claws. Clawed paws help her climb trees and shrubs, boulders and outbuildings. With the help of them, she can also effectively defend herself if she is captured. But its main defense is a mouth with solid teeth, among which developed fangs stand out.

An adult can bite a person quite noticeably. If she manages to cling to living flesh, she clenches her teeth and does not open them for a long time.

Young lizards are painted light gray on top, and transverse uneven dark and light stripes and spots of different sizes are evenly distributed along the main background. The underside of the body is light grey. In males, the throat and chest are darker.

Such a modest gray color has a young agama

Adult dragons, like most desert reptiles, are gray or sandy gray in color. But this is only at rest and at low temperatures. If the animal becomes very warm in the sun, and also due to fright or nervous excitement, the inconspicuous coloration changes dramatically: the throat, sides, chest, belly and limbs of males become black-blue, and bright blue spots also appear on the gray background of the back, tail turns bright yellow. In this color, males are an impressive sight!

This is how a male steppe agama can be painted

Females under the influence of the above factors also change color, but it is a little more modest. Their general background becomes bluish or greenish-gray, the spots on the back are orange, and the tail is light yellow.

steppe agama female

Outwardly, the agama gives the impression of something rough: and indeed, if you pick it up, you can feel how hard and prickly it is.

habitats

The steppe agama can be found in Central Asia and Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Iran, northwestern China. In Russia, it is known in the Eastern Ciscaucasia.

These lizards live in sandy, clay and rocky deserts and semi-deserts. Especially a lot of them where shrubs grow. They are also found in rocky gorges, on salt marshes, in dry riverbeds. They settle on the outskirts of settlements and along roadsides, they also enter cultivated lands - fields, vegetable gardens, melons.

Lifestyle and behavior of the steppe agama

The lizard is diurnal. She is very thermophilic and prefers air temperatures up to +30 - +35 ° C. However, hotter weather makes her either hide in holes or use other methods of protection from overheating, for example, climbing bushes and other elevations (air temperature at a height of about 1 meters a few degrees lower than at the surface of the earth). In addition, here the lizard is blown by the wind. In order to increase heat transfer at the same time, the agama opens its mouth and sticks out its tongue. Bushes are also used as an observation post: rising above the ground, the reptile carefully surveys the surroundings.

Caucasian agamas lead a sedentary lifestyle. Each adult lizard occupies a rather vast territory - several hundred square meters, beyond which it very rarely goes. Males protect their territory from other males, but young individuals and females are allowed to freely move around their possessions.

These lizards climb bushes well, run quickly on any substrate, while keeping the body elevated on outstretched legs and keeping the tail in the air, and also deftly climb the walls of buildings. When a reptile runs away, it does so with a bang, hitting everything in its path.

Observing his territory, the male periodically sharply crouches and nods his head. According to scientists, these nods are an ancient form of signal, demonstration behavior of lizards. Agama can nod at the sight of danger, at a meeting with a marriage partner, and even at the sight of large prey.

When two males meet, they exchange display nods and usually disperse. But sometimes there are skirmishes. Enraged opponents become like little dragons: they straighten their throat bag, open their mouths, rise above the ground, arch their backs, and inflate their bodies. They do this in order to demonstrate the size of their body and demoralize the enemy. Each of the males tries to stand sideways in front of the other's muzzle, and since both fail to do this at the same time, they move in circles for some time, intimidating each other. One of the rivals, having realistically assessed his capabilities, can simply run away, but if both decide to go to the end, a fight occurs: the lizards cling to each other, exchanging bites in various parts of the body.

During the day, steppe agamas, as a rule, are located on the branches of shrubs, but at night they hide in shelters, which they usually serve as rodent burrows. Sometimes they dig holes on their own, choosing a place at the base of stones or between the roots of a bush.

Agamas winter in the burrows of other animals, mainly gerbils, as well as in deep cracks and depressions in the ground. Depending on the distribution area, they leave for wintering in late September - October and leave it in mid-February - early April.

diet

The basis of the diet of the steppe agamas are insects. These are mainly large beetles and orthopterans - they grab them with their jaws and crack them with powerful teeth. From small insects, for example, desert ants, they also will not refuse - they grab them with a sticky tongue.

Agama belongs to the lurking predators. She never sneaks up, and spotting potential prey from her observation post, she rushes at her with lightning speed. Sometimes a reptile tries to grab a flying insect, but it is too massive and clumsy for this. If the prey roll was successful, then it immediately eats it and returns to its original place.

Sometimes agamas also eat plant foods - they bite flowers and fresh shoots of some herbs.

procreation

The mating season for agamas falls in the spring. When caring for his chosen one, the male shows her the size of his body, inflates the larynx, torso and raises the body above the ground.

At the beginning of summer, the female makes one or two clutches, each of which contains from 6 to 18 eggs. Eggs of the correct elliptical shape, up to two centimeters long and about one centimeter wide, are covered with a leathery shell. The female lays them in loose soil, in which she digs a special mink. In order to disguise the location of the offspring, she carefully and for a long time levels the substrate thrown out during the construction of the nest.

Young growth appears by the end of summer, after 50-60 days of incubation. Newborns have a body length of 3-4 cm, a tail - 6-7 cm. Having come to the surface, the cubs dry out and then scatter.

From the first days of life, they boldly defend themselves from any danger. If you reach out to them, they aggressively rush at her, jumping up, swelling their throats and opening their mouths wide.

They are very mobile and feed intensively, increasing daily by 0.5-1 mm. They reach sexual maturity in the third year of life.

Enemies of the steppe agamas

These lizards have many serious enemies. They are hunted by day and night birds, snakes, corsac and fox. Therefore, many crippled agamas are found in nature - with scars, damaged limbs, broken tails. Fortunately, they are very tenacious: even serious wounds on them heal very well, and disabled lizards continue to hunt and breed successfully as well as healthy ones.

Agamas suffer not only from predators: these reptiles, not afraid of the proximity of a person, often die under the wheels of cars.

The content of the steppe agamas in the terrarium

Often, the steppe agama is kept as a pet. It requires a terrarium of a horizontal type, the minimum dimensions of which are 50x40x30 cm. days - 12-14 hours.

The terrarium must be decorated with dry branches on which the reptile will sit. As a soil, sand is used with a layer of at least 10 cm with moistening from below. She also needs shelters - in a cold corner they equip a shelter in the form of a cave made of flat stones or snags.

In addition to insects, steppe agamas are fed with the juicy pulp of fruits and vegetables.

In principle, these lizards can be kept in groups: 1 male for 1-2 females. Since dragons are territorial, adult males cannot be kept in the same terrarium.

In contact with

steppe agama- medium-sized lizard (length up to 10-15 cm) with pronounced sexual dimorphism in color. It lives in deserts and semi-deserts of the Eastern Fore-Caucasus and Central Asia. Outside the Soviet Union, it is widely distributed in the northern regions of Iran and Afghanistan, in the northwestern part of China.

The color of the steppe agama is quite variable, but usually it is gray or grayish-yellow (sand-colored), it has large dark spots on its back, and vague dark transverse stripes on the tail and upper side of the paws. The color of the body depends on the ambient temperature, the mood of the animal. With fright or strong excitement, sexual dimorphism in color becomes better noticeable: in males, the throat, belly, lower part of the sides and limbs become dark blue, while this does not happen in females.

It lives in open areas, but in extreme heat it uses rodent burrows, cracks in the soil, voids under stones and plant roots as shelters. To protect the body from overheating on hot soil in the heat, it climbs onto the branches of saxaul and other shrubs. Territorial males have their own territories and protect them from other individuals. This must be taken into account when keeping agamas in order to avoid fights between males.

In nature, the agama feeds on beetles, ants, bugs and spiders, in addition, it eats leaves, stems and flowers of plants, especially in spring.

In captivity, it is kept in terrariums of the "Desert" type at a temperature of 27-29 ° C, with heating. It eats flour worms, cockroaches, crickets well, and from green fodder - dandelion leaves and flowers.

Sometimes lays eggs in a common terrarium.

Website "Siberian Zoological Museum" (www.bionet.nsc.ru), photo by Yu.K.Zinchenko

The Caucasian agama is a lizard belonging to the genus of Asian mountain agamas, which has a rather large size.

The length of her body reaches 15 centimeters, excluding the tail, and the tail is 2 times longer than the body.

The Caucasian agama is larger than the steppe agama, the shape of its body is flattened. The body is covered with heterogeneous scales: it is large and small in size. The shape of the scales is ribbed and subulate. The skin on the sides of the head and neck is covered with large conical scales. The tympanic membrane is located on the surface of the head, and in the steppe lizard it is in a depression. The scales on the tail are arranged in rings, every two rings form a distinct segment.

The upper body is gray and brown. In general, the color depends on the habitat: if the Caucasian agama lives on rocky areas, then its color is ash-gray, if on red sandstones, the color is reddish-brown, and if on basalts, then the color is brown, almost black. The belly is covered with smooth scales of cream or light gray color. The head is decorated with a dark marble pattern. In young animals, the color is clearly expressed from the transverse stripes of light and dark colors.

Where does the Caucasian agama live?

Representatives of the species live in the eastern part of the Caucasus, in Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, and in the south of Central Asia. Mountains are a characteristic habitat for Caucasian lizards. They live in gorges, on rocks and on boulders. In addition, they climb into various human buildings and structures.

Although outwardly these lizards look clumsy, they deftly move among the stones. They have developed claws, which help the agama to easily hold onto vertical walls, steep slopes and smooth stones. These lizards jump well from one stone to another at a distance of up to 40 centimeters. Sometimes Caucasian agaves crawl onto shrubs and trees. From danger, they take refuge in the cracks between the stones and cracks in the rocks.

The population of these lizards is quite numerous, so they regularly catch the eye of people. The Caucasian agama, as well as the steppe agama, chooses various hills as observation points - stones and steep slopes, from which it surveys the surrounding area.

Caucasian agamas are very numerous in nature.

Agama lifestyle

If the Caucasian agama is in danger, she immediately rushes to the shelter, while she disguises herself among the stones located at its entrance. If the enemy still pursues the lizard, it climbs into cover. Inside, it swells, the scales are hooked from the wall of the shelter, so it is extremely difficult to pull it out.

Males make sure that outsiders do not invade their territory. To do this, they are located in the observation post and periodically squat on their front legs. If another male enters the territory, then its owner rushes at the stranger. Most often, as a result of such attacks, an unexpected guest takes to flight. From 1 to 4 females constantly live on the possessions of males. And the male is in regular contact with them, even outside the breeding season.

Agamas are migratory lizards.

During courtship, Caucasian agaves exhibit individual characteristics that are not characteristic of other lizards. For example, the male puts his head on the female's head or neck. Since females live in territories guarded by males, lizards that do not have their own allotments do not participate in reproduction, mainly young animals.

Adult Caucasian dragons, like their counterparts, prefer to live in one place, but sometimes they have to migrate. It is not difficult for a desert lizard to find a place for wintering, but for Caucasian agaves the situation is more complicated, because in frosts rocky slopes freeze deeply, and it is quite difficult to find a deep shelter in which to spend the winter. In this regard, the Caucasian agamas have to migrate, while they move at a distance of about 500 meters.

Since the number of places suitable for wintering is limited, about a dozen adults and young animals can gather in one shelter. In the spring, the agama returns to its usual habitat again.

Females also face this problem when they are looking for a place to lay eggs. It is difficult to find a secluded place for future offspring among the rocks, so the females have to leave the inhabited areas and go where their offspring will be comfortable (the eggs must develop in conditions of high humidity). In search of a suitable place for laying, the female can overcome up to 3 kilometers. Hatched cubs spend the winter in the place of laying, after which they settle.

During hibernation, the Caucasian agama falls into a stupor, and its body temperature ranges from 0.8 to +9.8 degrees Celsius. If the southern winter is warm, then the body temperature of these lizards rises, and therefore they can be seen on the surface as early as January. That is, the winter sleep of Caucasian agamas is not too strong.

What does the Caucasian agama eat?

The diet of Caucasian agamas, as well as that of the steppe, is quite diverse. It mainly consists of invertebrates: beetles, butterflies, hymenoptera, centipedes and spiders, which lizards look out for from their observation posts. Sometimes Caucasian agamas eat other lizards and even young of their own species. In addition, they eat small snakes. An important role in the diet is plant foods - seeds, fruits and leaves.

Reproduction of Caucasian Agamas

Each female lays a clutch of 4-14 eggs. At the same time, the eggs are large: their length reaches 2.5 centimeters. For eggs, the female digs a hole under the stones or makes a clutch in the rock. Eggs develop over 1.5-2 months. Then young agamas hatch, the body length of which, excluding the tail, is about 4 centimeters. They grow quite quickly, and in the 3rd year of life they become sexually mature.

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(Agama sanguinolenta)

STEPPE AGAM (Agama sanguinolenta) is one of the most characteristic lizards of the steppes and deserts of Kazakhstan and Central Asia. It differs from other Central Asian representatives of its genus in its homogeneous, ribbed, with pointed spines scales of the body and long tail and a small ear opening, in the depths of which the eardrum is located. The total length of the animal does not exceed 30 cm, and adult males are noticeably longer than females. Young agamas are light gray above with a row of light gray more or less oval spots running along the ridge, extending to the base of the tail, and two rows of the same elongated spots along the sides of the body. With age, the color changes, and adult lizards become gray or yellowish-gray in color, and in males the dark spots often disappear almost completely. With an increase in temperature, and also under the influence of some kind of nervous excitement, the modest coloring of sexually mature agamas gives way to extremely bright colors, and significant color differences between the sexes are found. In males, the throat and the entire lower surface of the body and limbs become dark or even black-blue, cobalt-blue spots appear on the back, and the tail acquires a bright orange-yellow color. Under the same conditions, in females, the main background of the body becomes bluish or greenish-yellow, dark spots on the back become bright rusty-orange, and the legs and tail acquire the same, but less bright, color as in males. The steppe agama inhabits sandy, clay and rocky deserts and semi-deserts, adhering to places with shrub or semi-woody vegetation. It is also found in tugai forests along river banks, often in close proximity to water. As shelters, steppe agamas use rodent burrows, spaces under stones and cracks in the ground. Less often, they dig their own holes, located between the roots or at the base of the stones. They feed on all kinds of insects, spiders and wood lice, as well as the succulent parts of plants, in particular flowers. Of insects, these lizards prefer ants, which they deftly capture with a sticky tongue. Agamas run very fast, keeping the body elevated on outstretched legs and not touching the ground with their tail. They climb extremely deftly up the trunks and branches of trees and shrubs, sometimes jumping from branch to branch up to a distance of half a meter. In villages, they can be seen running along the vertical surfaces of adobe and stone fences and the walls of buildings. Each adult lizard has a relatively small habitat area, beyond which it very rarely goes. During the breeding season, sexually mature males rise to the upper branches of the bushes, from where the site is clearly visible. When an opponent appears, the owner quickly rolls towards him and puts the alien to flight. On the site of the male lives one, less often two females. In late April - early May, the female digs a cone-shaped hole 3-5 cm deep in loose soil and lays 5-10 eggs in it. Repeated clutches occur at the end of May and at the end of July. After 50-60 days, young lizards 32-40 mm long hatch from the eggs. The steppe agama is widespread in the desert and steppe zones of Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Afghanistan and Northern Iran to the Eastern Ciscaucasia in the west and Northwestern China in the east.