Ornate Mastigure Uromastyx ornata

The Ornate Mastigure or Ornate Spiny-tailed Lizard is native to rocky desert terrain in the Sinai Peninsula and along the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia and North Yemen.

Breeding males are brightly coloured and grow to some 40cm length (including tail). Females (and non-breeding males) are plainer with a muted colour wash often visible.

She climbs all over him. Males sometimes walk on the female's belly. They live in rocky desert terrain.

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.

Adult spiny-tails are mainly herbivorous and can regulate body temperature by turning darker (cold) or lighter (warm).