EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

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Morphs of the Toad-Head

Credit & Copyright:  Dr. Bruce G. Marcot
  

Explanation:  This small lizard has a great diversity of patterns and colors!  The above photos are of the same species -- the amusingly-named "toad-headed agama" (I guess the head is shaped bluntly, like a toad's) ... in a variety of locations in the Gobi Desert of southern Mongolia.  Notice how well its patterns and colors match its desert floor background.   In fact, the "species name" (more precisely, the "specific epithet") is versicolor ... versatile colors!  Indeed.   This is a wonderful example of  adaptation to local conditions, presumably here to avoid predation.   Its diversity, its ability to thrive in a variety of harsh conditions, and its ubiquity have led to it being considered a symbol of the Mongolian Gobi.    Toad-headed Agamas seem to be widespread and fairly common in southern Mongolia's Gobi Desert, where I observed and photographed it in a number of locations ... apparently extending its range according to an IUCN distribution map of the species, although a regional field guide (Terbish et al. 2013) seems to show a more reasonable and more widespread distribution in the country.       Information:      Terbish, K., K. Munkhbayar, and M. Munkhbaatar. 2013. A guide to the amphibians and reptiles of Mongolia. Second edition. Admon Print Publishers, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.    Locations in Umnugobi Province, southern Mongolia, of the trio of photos in the main entry, above:      Top:  "Dream Gobi" Ger Camp, 40 km northwest of Dalanzadgad      Middle:  Moltsog Els dunes      Bottom:  Flaming Cliffs