NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Mwanza flat-headed agama
Agama mwanzae Loveridge, 1923
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.
Mwanza flat-headed rock agama (Agama mwanzae), Masai Mara, Kenya. The species has become a fashionable pet due to the male's coloration, which resembles the comic-book superhero Spider-Man.
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Mwanza flat-headed rock agama (Agama mwanzae) is a lizard reptile in the family Agamidae, found in Tanzania, Rwanda, and Kenya.
It lives in semideserts and can often be seen in the heat of the day basking on rocks or kopjes. The male's head, neck, and shoulders are bright red or violet, while the body is dark blue. The female is mostly brown and is difficult to distinguish from female agamas of other species. This lizard is often confused with the red-headed rock agama (Agama agama). Males preferably have around five breeding partners and are highly territorial. Once a male has won over a female, the lizard performs exotic head bobs and head swinging to court her.
The species has become a fashionable pet due to the male's coloration, which resembles the comic-book superhero Spider-Man.
Wikipedia contributors, Mwanza flat-headed rock agama; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:53:38.593578+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Agama mwanzae Loveridge, 1923
- Name authority
- Loveridge, 1923
- Common name
- Mwanza flat-headed 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 mwanzae Loveridge, 1923
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Ground AgamaAgama armata Peters, 1854 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| 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 |
| Montane rock agamaAgama montana Barbour & Loveridge, 1928 | 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 |
|---|---|
| Agama planiceps mwanzae Kluge, 1984 Kluge, 1984 | 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=Agama&species=mwanzae 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:65JRP. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.