The rock agama, Laudakia caucasia Eichwald (Agamidae) is host to Plasmodium caucasica sp. n. and Saurocytozoon agamidorum sp. n. in western Pakistan. Plasmodium caucasica is characterized by very large meronts, 11-21 by 8-17 microm that produce 32-67 merozoites, which nearly fill the host erythrocyte, and smaller, ovoid to elongate gametocytes, 6-14 by 2.5-6 microm, with length by width (LW) 21...

The exact homologies of tetrapod jaw muscles remain unresolved, and this provides a barrier for phylogenetic analysis and tracing character evolution. Here, lepidosaur jaw muscles are surveyed using direct examination of species from 23 families and published descriptions of species from 10 families. A revised nomenclature is applied according to proposed homologies with Latimeria. Among lepido...

Life-history traits such as offspring size, number and sex ratio are affected by maternal feeding rates in many kinds of animals, but the consequences of variation in maternal diet quality (rather than quantity) are poorly understood. We manipulated dietary quality of reproducing female lizards (Amphibolurus muricatus; Agamidae), a species with temperature-dependent sex determination, to examin...

We hypothesize the phylogenetic relationships of the agamid genus Phrynocephalus to assess how past environmental changes shaped the evolutionary and biogeographic history of these lizards and especially the impact of paleogeography and climatic factors. Phrynocephalus is one of the most diverse and taxonomically confusing lizard genera. As a key element of Palearctic deserts, it serves as a pr...

Agama agama, the agamid rainbow lizard, has been reported to serve as transport and reservoir host to several protozoan and helminth parasites. We randomly sampled 310 specimens between May and July, 2005, at Oyingbo, Lagos, Nigeria (6 degrees 34'60" N-3 degrees 19'59" E and 6 degrees 34'60" N-3 degrees 19'59" E).They harboured four species of nematodes: Strongyluris brevicaudata, Parapharyngod...