NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Tuvan Toad-headed Agama
Phrynocephalus versicolor Strauch, 1876
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Phrynocephalus versicolor Strauch, 1876 in Baatsagaan sum, Bayankhongor province, South Mongolia
Bogomolov.PL · Public domain · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Phrynocephalus versicolor, the Tuvan toad-headed agama, is a species of agamid lizard found in desert areas of China and Mongolia. It was first described by the Russian herpetologist Alexander Strauch, director of the Zoological Museum at the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg.
Wikipedia contributors, Phrynocephalus versicolor; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:37:35.202169+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Phrynocephalus versicolor Strauch, 1876
- Name authority
- Strauch, 1876
- Common name
- Tuvan Toad-headed Agama
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Agamidae
- Genus
- Phrynocephalus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderIguania
- familyAgamidae
- subfamilyAgaminae
- genusPhrynocephalus
- speciesPhrynocephalus versicolor Strauch, 1876
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Phrynocephalus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Phrynocephalus ananjevae Melnikov, Melnikova, Nazarov & Rajabizadeh, 2013 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Arabian Toadhead AgamaPhrynocephalus arabicus Anderson, 1894 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Phrynocephalus clarkorum Anderson & Leviton, 1967 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Phrynocephalus guttatus (Gmelin, 1789) | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sunwatcher Toadhead AgamaPhrynocephalus helioscopus (Pallas, 1771) | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Lichtenstein's Toadhead AgamaPhrynocephalus interscapularis Lichtenstein, 1856 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Reticulated toad-headed agamaPhrynocephalus reticulatus Eichwald, 1831 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Uzbekistan Toadhead AgamaPhrynocephalus rossikowi Nikolsky, 1898 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Phrynocephalus vlangalii Strauch, 1876 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Yellow-speckled toad-headed agamaPhrynocephalus luteoguttatus Boulenger, 1887 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Blacktail Toadhead AgamaPhrynocephalus maculatus Anderson, 1872 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Phrynocephalus golubewii Shenbrot & Semyonov, 1990 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Phrynocephalus immaculatus Zhao, 1995 Zhao, 1995 | synonym |
| Phrynocephalus potanini Bedriaga, 1909 Bedriaga, 1909 | synonym |
| Phrynocephalus blanfordi Bedriaga, 1907 Bedriaga, 1907 | synonym |
| Phrynocephalus pewzowi | synonym |
| Phrynocephalus versicolor var. bogdanowi Bedriaga, 1909 Bedriaga, 1909 | synonym |
| Phrynocephalus ciliaris Bedriaga, 1907 Bedriaga, 1907 | synonym |
| Phrynocephalus guentheri Bedriaga, 1906 Bedriaga, 1906 | synonym |
| Phrynocephalus rostralis Zarevsky, 1930 Zarevsky, 1930 | synonym |
| Phrynocephalus helioscopus var. levis Kashtchenko, 1909 Kashtchenko, 1909 | synonym |
| Phrynocephalus versicolor var. siebenrocki Bedriaga, 1909 Bedriaga, 1909 | synonym |
| Phrynocephalus parvulus Zarevsky, 1927 Zarevsky, 1927 | ambiguous synonym |
| Phrynocephalus versicolor var. doriai Bedriaga, 1909 Bedriaga, 1909 | synonym |
| Phrynocephalus stejnegeri Bannikov, 1958 Bannikov, 1958 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Phrynocephalus&species=versicolor Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4GWG2. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.