The Spiny-tailed Lizards of North Africa and the Middle East have spiny tails used for defence and flat bodies with loose
skin which enable them to hide in narrow rock crevices. Leptiens Spiny-tailed (shown here) is sometimes included as a subspecies
of the Egyptian Spiny-tailed and sometimes treated as a full species (Uromastyx leptieni).
Adult spiny-tails are mainly herbivorous and can regulate body temperature by turning darker (cold) or lighter (warm).
They live in rocky terrain.
The Egyptian Spiny-tailed is native to much of North Africa and the Middle East. Leptiens species or subspecies is found
only in hot deserts of the UAE and Northern Oman and is one of the largest in the Uromastyx genus growing up to 30 inches in length
(the male). Its status is vulnerable through habitat destruction and as it is a source of food and leather for bedouins.