From UroWiki
Phylogenetic tree, showing relationships between different uromastyx species (Amer & Kumazawa 2005)
The Uromastyx is a genus of lizard whose members are better-known as
spiny-tailed lizards, uros, mastigures, or Dabb lizards. It is a subset of the family Uromastycinae, with the second branch being the genus Saara (see
Taxonomic reclassification, below).
Uromastyx are primarily herbivorous, but occasionally eat insects, especially when young. They spend most of their waking hours basking in the sun, hiding in underground chambers at nighttime or when danger appears. They tend to establish themselves in hilly, rocky areas with good shelter and accessible vegetation. In many countries, the trade of uromastyx is voluntarily regulated through the CITES agreement.
Uromastyx are agamid lizards, belonging to the same family as bearded, frilled, and water dragons. However, it should be noted that this genus is composed of lizard species which, though sharing similar physical characteristics, are highly different and require different environments - notably things like food, temperature, humidity and UVB requirements which can differ greatly from those for a bearded dragon, for instance.
Distribution
Uromastyx inhabit a range stretching through most of North Africa, the Middle East and across south-central Asia and into India. This area spreads across 5000 miles and 30 countries. They occur at elevations from sea level to well over 3000 feet. They are regularly eaten, and sold in produce markets, by local peoples.
Taxonomy
The generic name (uromastyx) is derived from the Ancient Greek words ourá (οὐρά) meaning tail and mastigo (Μαστίχα) meaning whip or scourge, after the thick-spiked tail characteristic of all uromastyx species. It is for this reason that the pronunciation of 'uromastyx' should begin with an "ooh" sound (as in roof), rather than with the "you" (as in euro) sound commonly used.
Taxonomic reclassification
Important update: as of August 2010, according to Thomas Wilms, the genera U. hardwickii, U. loricata and U. asmussi are no longer classified as uromastyx; rather, they now belong to the genus saara (Gray, 1845), one of two genera inculded in the family Uromastycinae (the second being the genus Uromastyx itself). These three are marked with an asterisk (*) in the list below).
Subsequent to the Animal Committee’s meeting in 2009, a new review of the taxonomy of the genus Uromastyx was published by Wilms et al (2009). The authors of this paper used modern morphological, genetic and statistical studies to establish the most correct taxonomy for this group . Wilms et al listed 13 species in the genus Uromastyx (including U. yemenensis) and moved three species from Uromastyx to the genus Saara (which is not currently in the CITES Checklist). They removed one species (U. leptieni) from the list entirely and designated it as a synonym of U. aegyptia (this is marked with a double asterisk (**) in the list below).
Source:
- http://www.cites.org/eng/cop/15/prop/E-15-Prop-10.pdf
- http://www.zfmk.de/BZB/BzB_56_1_08_Wilms.pdf
List of species
