Acanthodactylus is a genus of lacertid lizards, commonly referred to as fringe-fingered lizards, fringe-toed lizards (though the latter common name is also used for the New World lizard genus Uma), and spiny-toed lizards.

Geographic range

The approximately 40 species in the genus Acanthodactylus are native to a wide area in North Africa, southern Europe and Western Asia; across the Sahara Desert, to the Iberian Peninsula, and east through the Arabian Peninsula, to Afghanistan and western India.

Habitat

Though lizards of the genus Acanthodactylus prefer dry and sparsely vegetated regions, they are not strictly tied to an arid terrain; so it is not uncommon to come across them in various environments.

Description

Members of the genus Acanthodactylus possess the following combination of traits: The coloration and pattern of spots of Acanthodactylus is extremely variable, so it is unsurprising that zoologists have, at one time or another, classified every variety as a separate species.

Behavior

Every saurian of the genus Acanthodactylus is very aggressive and gets continuously involved in skirmishes with other members of its species. The males strenuously defend the borders of their territories.

Reproduction

Acanthodactylus are oviparous. The number of eggs in a clutch ranges from 3 to 7. The total length of a sexually mature adult of the genus is, on average, 18 to 20 cm.

Classification

Genus Acanthodactylus • Acanthodactylus aegyptius S. Baha El Din, 2007 • Acanthodactylus ahmaddisii Y. Werner, 2004 • Acanthodactylus arabicus Boulenger, 1918 - Arabian fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus aureus Günther, 1903 - golden fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus bedriagai Lataste, 1881 – Bedriaga's fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus beershebensis Moravec et al., 1999 – Be'er Sheva fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus blanci Doumergue, 1901 – Blanc's fringe-toed lizard • Acanthodactylus blanfordii Boulenger, 1918 – Blanford's fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus boskianus (Daudin, 1802) – Bosc's fringe-toed lizard • Acanthodactylus boueti Chabanaud, 1917 – Chabanaud's fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus busacki Salvador, 1982 – Busack's fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus cantoris Günther, 1864 – Indian fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus dumerilii (Milne-Edwards, 1829) – Duméril’s fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus erythrurus (Schinz, 1833) – spiny-footed lizard • Acanthodactylus felicis Arnold, 1980 – cat fringe-fingered lizard, South Arabian fringe-toed lizard • Acanthodactylus gongrorhynchatus Leviton & S.C. Anderson, 1967 – Saudi fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus grandis Boulenger, 1909 – giant fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus guineensis (Boulenger, 1887) – Guinea fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus haasi Leviton & S.C. Anderson, 1967 – Haas's fringe-fingered lizard, Haas's fringe-toed lizard • Acanthodactylus hardyi Haas, 1957 – Hardy’s fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus harranensis Baran et al., 2005 – Harran fringe-toed lizard • Acanthodactylus ilgazi Kurnaz & Şahin, 2021 • Acanthodactylus khamirensis Heidari et al., 2013 • Acanthodactylus lacrymae Miralles et al., 2020 • Acanthodactylus longipes Boulenger, 1918 - Miralleslong fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus maculatus (Gray, 1838) – spotted fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus margaritae Tamar, Geniez, Brito, & Crochet, 2017 • Acanthodactylus masirae Arnold, 1980 - Masira fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus micropholis Blanford, 1874 - yellowtail fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus montanus Miralles et al., 2020 • Acanthodactylus nilsoni Rastegar-Pouyani, 1998 - Nilson's spiny-toed lizard • Acanthodactylus opheodurus Arnold, 1980 - Arnold's fringe-fingered lizard, snake-tailed fringe-toed lizard • Acanthodactylus orientalis Angel, 1936 • Acanthodactylus pardalis (Lichtenstein, 1823) – leopard fringe-fingered lizard, Egyptian fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus robustus F. Werner, 1929 - robust fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus savignyi (Audouin, 1809) – Savigny's fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus schmidti Haas, 1957 - Schmidt's fringe-fingered lizard, Schmidt's fringe-toed lizard • Acanthodactylus schreiberi Boulenger, 1878 – Schreiber's fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus scutellatus (Audouin, 1827) -Nidua fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus spinicauda Doumergue, 1901 – Doumergue's fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus taghitensis Geniez & Foucart, 1995 • Acanthodactylus tilburyi Arnold, 1986 - Tilbury's fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus tristrami (Günther, 1864) - Lebanon fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus yemenicus Salvador, 1982 - Yemen fringe-fingered lizard • Acanthodactylus zagrosicus Mozaffari, Mohammadi, Saberi-Pirooz & Ahmadzadeh, 2021 - Zagrosian fringe-fingered lizard Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Acanthodactylus.