Week 6 Agamura persica!!!

Im very excited to bring you an incredible species of gecko that I've always found to be very interesting. Also know as spider geckos, or Persian spider geckos, these lookers are indigenous to Afghanistan, Iran, as well as Pakistan. Their scraggly limbs allow them to navigate their rocky habitat, and are said to make them look similar to a spider, hence their common name.  These geckos can be quite vocal, which is another characteristic I like in a gecko.  I want to thank Laura Mansfield for the pictures, she is at www.goodlifeherps.weebly.com.

Here's a video of a male chirping/calling for a female:

Sorry for the delay in postings. Life can get hectic, but I will try to post a few a week until I am caught up....Öli

Week 5, Cordylus cataphractus!

Cordylus cataphractus, also commonly known as the Girdled Armadillo lizard, is endemic to the Western coastal region of South Africa.  They are known to reside in groups of numerous females, as well as numerous males.  They live in rocky areas, and inhabit the tight crevices, and cracks between large boulders.  Their diet consists of mostly insects, but it has been said that they will occasionally eat vegetative matter as well, but I have not witnessed this first hand.  These lizards are covered in hard spines, and are plated with armor on their posterior.  When threatened, they curl up into a ball, and bite their tail.  At this point they are a spiny, and an armored loop shape which protects their soft belly.  Sorry I don't have any pictures of this, but a quick google search on Cordylus cataphractus will display images of them in this position.  Enjoy the pics!        

Here's a little video I had posted some time back, but to properly commemorate this species I figured that I would re-post it for those of you that did not catch it the first time around.