Wildlifeof Vietnam
Acanthosaura nataliae
Agamids & Forest Lizards
Photo: Liu S, Hou M, Mo M, Rao D (2020) A new species of the genus Acanthosaura (Squamata, Agamidae) from Yunnan, China, with comments on its conservation status. ZooKeys 959: 113-135. · CC BY 4.0
Acanthosaura nataliae
Rare visitor: recorded only occasionally in this country
Basic stats
Diet
Invertebrates
Habitat
Wet evergreen mid-hill and submontane forest, about 350–1,400m
Range
Central Vietnam, southern Laos and Cambodia
Clutch size
Up to 16 eggs
Acanthosaura nataliae is an arboreal horned agama named for Russian herpetologist Natalia Ananjeva. It was described in 2006 from the Annamite region and had previously been confused with A. capra. Diagnostic work notes the absence of an occipital spine between the tympanum and nuchal crest, separating it from several related species. It occurs in central Vietnam, southern Laos and Cambodia (Orlov, Nguyen and Nguyen 2006; Reptile Database).
This diurnal species occupies wet evergreen forest from mid-hills into submontane zones, roughly 350–1,400 metres. Adults are associated with trunks of tall trees, whereas juveniles use bushes and vegetation closer to the ground. It lays eggs, with clutches reported up to 16. The lizard depends on forest and is not known to persist in cleared land or plantations; it feeds on invertebrate prey captured from arboreal perches (IUCN habitat account; general Acanthosaura ecology).
Quick answers
- What does the Acanthosaura nataliae eat?
- Invertebrates
- What habitat does the Acanthosaura nataliae live in?
- Wet evergreen mid-hill and submontane forest, about 350–1,400m
- Where is the Acanthosaura nataliae found?
- Central Vietnam, southern Laos and Cambodia
- How many eggs does the Acanthosaura nataliae lay?
- Up to 16 eggs