Agama armata Peters, 1855

Conradie, Werner, Keates, Chad, Verburgt, Luke, Baptista, Ninda L., Harvey, James, Júlio, Timóteo & Neef, Götz, 2022, Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango-Cuando-Zambezi River drainages. Part 2: Lizards (Sauria), chelonians, and crocodiles, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 322) 16 (2), pp. 181-214 : 187

Agama armata Peters, 1855

Peter’s Ground Agama ( Figs. 3–4 , Map 3)

Material (12 specimens): PEM R 23252, Cacundu falls, -13.77390° 18.75520°, 1,281 m asl; PEM R 23310, between Cuchi River to Menongue, -14.67986° 17.17512°, 1,391 m asl; PEM R 23319, Cuito River source lake, -12.68935° 18.36012°, 1,435 m asl; PEM R 23356, Cuito River source lake, grasslands, -12.67756° 18.35589°, 1,495 m asl; PEM R 23380, Kuvango River old hydro plant site, -14.38754° 16.30166°, 1,438 m asl; PEM R 23391, camp near Malova Village, Mipanha River, -14.09140° 16.41476°, 1,569 m asl; PEM R 23407, Lungwebungu River bridge crossing, -12.58346° 18.66598°, 1,304 m asl; PEM R 23520, grassland west of Cuanavale River source, -13.01347° 18.81669°, 1,538 m asl; PEM R 23994 (iNaturalist 12154222), Aquaculture farm outside Cuito town, -12.439722° 16.89833°, 1,691 m asl; PEM R 27388, Luvu River camp, -13.71200° 21.83538°, 1,082 m asl; INBAC: WC-5169, Huambo HALO training site, -12.73726° 15.81828°, 1,665 m asl; INBAC: WC-4574, Lungwebungu River bridge crossing, -12.58347° 18.66598°, 1,294 m asl. Description: In juveniles, the ventral scales are more keeled and the ventrum has small, black-edged white circular blotches that seem to fade or disappear with age. The gular region is spotted in both juveniles and adults, although more defined in juveniles. Dorsal scales strongly keeled with nine rows of enlarged scales arranged in longitudinal rows; 89–97 (93) scale rows at midbody; 71–81 (76) transverse ventral scale rows; 45–62 (54) transverse dorsal scale rows; 11–14 supralabials; 10–13 infralabials; 15–18 (16) subdigital lamellae under 4 th toe; 10–12 precloacal pores in a single row.Largest female: 88.5 + 95.0 mm ( INBAC: WC-4574); largest male: 85.9 + 113.0 mm ( PEM R 23380, new maximum size). Habitat and natural history notes: Juveniles were collected in February, while gravid females were collected in October. Comments: Species identification was based on the gular pattern (spotted versus striped in A. aculeata ) as documented by Jacobsen (1992). Re-examination of a specimen recorded as A. aculeata from north of Cachingues in Conradie et al. (2016) also conforms to this species. Although some historical Angolan material was referred to A. armata (see Bocage 1895; Boulenger 1905), Marques et al. (2018) regarded all material from Angola as A. aculeata , and mention that A. armata is ‘extralimital’ and restricted to southeastern South Africa. In contrast, A. armata has been regularly documented from adjacent Zambia ( Broadley 1971; Pietersen et al. 2017, 2021; Bittencourt-Silva 2019). All available historical Angolan material under the names A. aculeata and A. armata , especially those from eastern Angola ( Manaças 1963; Laurent 1964), needs to be re-examined to establish the true identification and full extent of the ranges of these two species in Angola. It is noteworthy that members of the Agama aculeata-armata group are genetically similar, which may necessitate the synonymy of these species in the future (Leaché et al. 2014). If the specific status of these two species is confirmed, then both might be present in Angola, with A. aculeata restricted to the more arid western regions of Angola and A. armata to the more mesic eastern regions.

Figures

Fig. 3. Adult male Agama armata (PEM R23252) from Cacundu Falls. Photo by Werner Conradie.

Fig. 4. Gravid female Agama armata (PEM R27388) from Luvu River camp. Photo by Chad Keates.