NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Acanthosaura murphyi Nguyen, Do, Hoang, Nguyen, Mccormack, Nguyen, Orlov, Nguyen & Nguyen, 2018
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.
Mountain horned dragon Acanthosaura murphyi in Prague Zoo, Czech Republic
Pavel Hrdlička (Czech Wikipedia user Packa) · 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
Acanthosaura murphyi (Vietnamese: Nhông xanh cao nguyên or Nhông Murphy)is a species of agama found in Vietnam.
It is an olive-coloured, brown to dark grey-coloured lizard with a body length of 10-13 cm and a tail length of 16-20 cm. It weighs up to 100 g.
Like other agamas, thorn lizards can change colour according to mood or need.
Individuals of this species were originally thought to be individuals of mountain horned dragon (Acanthosaura capra). As a new species, it was only differentiated from it in 2018.
Wikipedia contributors, Acanthosaura murphyi; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T14:15:52.998996+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Acanthosaura murphyi Nguyen, Do, Hoang, Nguyen, Mccormack, Nguyen, Orlov, Nguyen & Nguyen, 2018
- Name authority
- Nguyen, Do, Hoang, Nguyen, Mccormack, Nguyen, Orlov, Nguyen & Nguyen, 2018
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Agamidae
- Genus
- Acanthosaura
- 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
- subfamilyDraconinae
- genusAcanthosaura
- speciesAcanthosaura murphyi Nguyen, Do, Hoang, Nguyen, Mccormack, Nguyen, Orlov, Nguyen & Nguyen, 2018
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Acanthosaura. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Acanthosaura liui Liu, Hou, Mo & Rao, 2020 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| orange crested horned lizardAcanthosaura aurantiacrista Trivalairat, Kunya, Chanhome, Sumontha, Vasaruchapong, Chomngam & Chiangkul, 2020 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Bintang Horned Tree LizardAcanthosaura bintangensis Wood, Grismer, Grismer, Ahmad, Onn & Bauer, 2009 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Acanthosaura cardamomensis Wood, Grismer, Grismer, Neang, Chav & Holden, 2010 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Acanthosaura coronata Günther, 1861 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Boulenger's PricklenapeAcanthosaura crucigera Boulenger, 1885 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Brown PricklenapeAcanthosaura hainanensis Boulenger, 1900 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Brown PricklenapeAcanthosaura lepidogaster (Cuvier, 1829) | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Phuket Horned Tree AgamidAcanthosaura phuketensis Pauwels, Sumontha, Kunya, Nitikul, Samphanthamit, Wood & Grismer, 2015 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Malayan Mountain Horned AgamidAcanthosaura titiwangsaensis Wood, Grismer, Grismer, Ahmad, Onn & Bauer, 2009 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Acanthosaura cuongi Ngo, Le, Nguyen, Nguyen, Nguyen, Phan, Nguyen, Ziegler & Do, 2025 | AgamidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sa Pa Horned Tree LizardAcanthosaura brachypoda Ananjeva, Orlov, Nguyen & Ryabov, 2011 | 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=Acanthosaura&species=murphyi 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:8H5VP. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.