{{Short description|Species of lizard}} {{Speciesbox | image = Agama aculeata.jpg | image_caption = in Damaraland, Namibia | image2 = Ground agama (Agama aculeata) in water.jpg | image2_caption = in South Africa | genus = Agama | species = aculeata | authority = Merrem, 1820 | subdivision_ranks = Subspecies | subdivision = ''A. a. aculeata'' Merrem, 1820<br /> ''A. a. distanti'' (Boulenger, 1902) | synonyms = ''Saura spinalis''<br /> ''Agama infralineata'' }}
'''''Agama aculeata''''', the '''ground agama''', is a species of lizard from the family Agamidae, found in most of sub-Saharan Africa (Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique, Southern Angola, Tanzania, Zambia, Eswatini).<ref>{{NRDB species|genus=Agama|species=aculeata}}</ref>
==Description== Snout-to-vent length is 76–100 mm. With a triangular head and rounded snout, this agama is coloured olive to reddish-brown (sometimes grey or yellowish) with a light creamy-white to pink belly. There are four or five paired darker blotches on the back—many smaller blotches continue down the tail. Breeding males become blue on the sides of their heads.<ref>Branch, Bill. Field Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third revised edition. Sanibel Is., Florida:Ralph Curtis Books Publ., 1998.</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="70"> File:Ground Agama, female.jpg|Female ground agama in Serengeti, Tanzania File:Lizard - e.JPG|Ground agama in Tanzania File:Ground Agama (Agama aculeata) (6536937287).jpg File:Agama aculeata 339725968 (cropped).jpg File:Western Ground Agama imported from iNaturalist photo 344978458 on 3 December 2024.jpg|Climbing </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist}} * {{Commons category-inline|italic=1}}
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aculeata Category:Agamid lizards of Africa Category:Reptiles described in 1820 Category:Taxa named by Blasius Merrem
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