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Project Noah Nature School
Trapelus flavimaculatus
Look at pictures 2, 3 and 4 to see the amazing colour change in this beautiful male agama. This is a lizard that I've been looking for ever since I arrived in Qatar. It is also known locally as the blue-headed agama. When we first spotted this individual he was pretty well camouflaged against the sand coloured rock. I was a little bit disappointed about the apparent lack of colouration but then noticed the tail changing colour towards more orange. Then all of a sudden he went from brown to electric blue - within less than a minute! He quickly climbed up to the tallest rock and started doing an impressive display. Clearly we were seen as competition for a few minutes until he changed colour back to normal again. The females are similar to the non-displaying males, but lack the throat flap.
Rocky, desert area. Also found displaying on the top of desert plants.
The sequence of the photos shows the colour change from brown to blue and back to brown again. In the fourth picture you can see the bobbing behaviour.
Spotted on May 1, 2013
Submitted on May 5, 2013
6 Comments
Monah, thank you too :D
Thank you Nehemiah! I love the blue :))
Beautiful series.. It's wonderful..
What a neat thing to see. I can understand why you went searching for it.
Thank you very much J :D Such an incredible little beastie!
Wow! The color change is fantastic! The third photo is absolutely gorgeous! I can see why this is one of your favorites!