North African Spiny-tailed Lizard Uromastyx acanthinura

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.

The North African Spiny-tailed (above) is native to Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. Adult spiny-tails are mainly herbivorous and can regulate body temperature by turning darker (cold) or lighter (warm). They live in rocky desert terrain.

The Moroccan Spiny-tailed subspecies, U. a. nigriventris (black-bellied), above, is sometimes treated as a full species.