Dabb Spiny-tailed Lizard
The dabb spiny-tailed lizard or mastigure, is a species of lizard closely related to agamas and the thorny devil.
Size: Length: 28cm - 40cm
Weight: 130 - 200g
These lizards live in the Sahara desert, from Mauritania to Libya. They often hide in burrows during the heat of the day, or under rocks to escape predators.
Spiny-tailed lizards are mainly herbivores, eating a variety of plant material. As they live in dry habitats, they also get most of their water from their food.
Around 10 – 12 eggs are laid which have a thin, parchment like shell. These hatch after an incubation of around 2 months.
The dabb spiny-tailed lizard has not been evaluated by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), but is listed on CITES which limits trade in this species to protect its numbers.