Biosystematics study of steppe agama (Trapelus agilis) in of Khorasan Razavi (Torbat-e-heydariyeh and Neyshabour)

The fourth great family of the Lizards is Agamidae. This family consists of 4 genera in Iran. The Agamid genus Trapelus is one of the least studied genus and distributed throughout the desert and semi-desert regions in north Africa, eastwards in to the Middle East and Central Asia, as far east as eastern Kazakhstan and western China. The Trapelus consists of 4 species in Iranian plateau: T. agilis, T. lessonae, T. ruderatus, and T. megalonyx. T. agilis complex is the most complicated and widespread species complex and consists of 3 subspecies in Iran: T. a. agilis, T. a. sanguinolentus, and T. a. khuzistanensis. We studied 81 specimens (35 juveniles, 46 adults) based on 3 morphometric and 12 meristic characters from Torbat-e-Heydariyeh (27 specimens) and Neyshabour (54 specimens) cities. Results revealed that mean of snout-vent length were 60. 40 in males and 63. 41 in females, mean tail length were 89. 24 and 90. 74 in males and females respectively. Numbers of scales around midbody in all specimens were 59-83 (mean 69. 32±0. 64) and numbers of internasals were 3-5 (mean 4. 01±0. 08) Mean number of preanal callos scales were 18. 92 and 7. 86 in males and females respectively. Tails of all juveniles (%100) were original and complete and only one adult specimen was tailless.