NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Northern Ground Agama
Agama armata Peters, 1854
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
The tropical spiny agama, northern ground agama, or Peter's ground agama (Agama armata) is a species of lizard from the family Agamidae, found in most of sub-Saharan Africa. The species is found in South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Eswatini, southern Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), southwestern Kenya, and central Tanzania.
Wikipedia contributors, Agama armata; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:33:21.582618+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Agama armata Peters, 1854
- Name authority
- Peters, 1854
- Common name
- Northern Ground Agama
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Agamidae
- Genus
- Agama
- 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
- genusAgama
- speciesAgama armata Peters, 1854
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Agama. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Southern African Rock AgamaAgama atra Daudin, 1802 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Boulenger's AgamaAgama boulengeri Lataste, 1886 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| West African AgamaAgama africana (Hallowell, 1844) | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Benoue AgamaAgama doriae Boulenger, 1885 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Benin AgamaAgama gracilimembris Chabanaud, 1918 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Etosha AgamaAgama etoshae Mclachlan, 1981 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Finch’s agamaAgama finchi Böhme, Wagner, Malonza, Lötters & Köhler, 2005 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Common Spiny AgamaAgama hispida (Kaup, 1827) | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Elmenteita Rock AgamaAgama caudospinosa Meek, 1910 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Lucy’s AgamaAgama lucyae Wagner & Bauer, 2011 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mwanza flat-headed agamaAgama mwanzae Loveridge, 1923 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Montane rock agamaAgama montana Barbour & Loveridge, 1928 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
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=Agama&species=armata 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:65JPH. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.