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Latastia longicaudata
: colorationanddis-
tribution
InhismonographontheLacertidae(1921),the
brilliant systematistGeorgeAlbertBoulenger
wroteof
Latastialongicaudata
:”Thecoloration
varies enormously.Theground colour varies
from pale grey to brown, reddish-brown or
brick-red. Some specimens are handsomely
markedwithdarkand light shadesandspots
orbars,othersareofapalegreyishsand-colour,
withallthemarkingsmucheffaced.Theremay
be fournarrow lightstreakson theuppersur-
faceoftheneckandbody,theouterproceeding
from the superciliaryedge,and twobroader
lightstreaksoneachside,theupperoriginating
behindtheeye,passingabovethetympanum,
andextendingtothebaseofthetail,the lower
fromtheupperlip,passingthroughthetympa-
numandabove the fore limb to the thigh,on
theposteriorsidebfwhich it reappearsand is
continuedon thebaseof the tail.These light
streaksmaybebrokenup intoregularseriesof
spots,eitheron thebackandsidesoronlyon
thesides,wheretheymaybeseparatedbynar-
rowblackishbars;seriesofblackspotsmayrun
betweenthem,aswellasaseriesofblue,black-
edgedocellibetweenthetwolateralstreaks,or
theymaybecrossedonthebackandsidesby
moreor less regular,straightorwavyblackish
bars.Very frequently there isadarkbrownor
blackvertebralstreak,extendingfromtheocci-
put to thebaseof the tail,ordisappearingor
brokenupintoaseriesofspotsontheposterior
partofthebody.Inotherspecimensthereisno
traceofeitherlightordarklongitudinalstreaks,
andthebackisirregularlyspottedorreticulated
withbrownorblack,andthesidesofthehead,
neckandbodyarebarredwithblackandwhite
orbluishgrey.Adarkbandusually runsalong
thesideofthetail.”
Distribution
TheCommon Long-Tailed Lizardhas awide
distribution:Senegal,Mali toSudanandEgypt
(includingtheSinaiPeninsula),thencetoEthio-
pia, Somalia,Yemen, Kenya,Tanzania, Came-
roon,CentralAfricanRepublicandNiger.The
type locality is"Tor impeträischenArabien" (=
northernArabia).Atpresentfoursubspeciesare
distinguished:
L.l.andersonii
:SWArabia,
L.l.lan-
zai
:Somalia,Kenya,Ethiopia,
L.l.revoili
:Ethiopia,
Kenya,south toUgogo,centralTanzania (type
localityofthissubspeciesisSomalia).Themajor
partofthespeciesrangeisinhabitedbytheno-
minatesubspecies.
TheCommonLong-TailedLizardinthewild
Therearen'tmanyreportsonthelifeinthewild
of thiswidespreadandapparentlyalsocom-
mon species.There is, however, a very inter-
estingstudybyParker (1942),whoworkedon
thelizardsofBritishSomaliland(nowtheRepu-
blicofSomalilandandpartofnorthernSoma-
lia).He listedfivesubspeciesfortheregion,but
assumed that therewereactuallyverymany
more,asthe formshestudiedcouldbedistin-
guishedecologicallyandalso inpartbyanato-
micaldetails.ButParkeralsosuggests thatall
theformsmerge intooneanother(thetechni-
calterm is"intergrade"),an importantdefining
Latastia longicaudata
huntsandcaptures relatively large foodanimals.
character for subspecies.Leavingasidewhat
theactual taxonomicstatusoftheseSomalian
subspeciesmaybe,Parkerdemonstratesvery
nicelyhowtheyareseparatedecologically.Un-
fortunatelyitwouldrequirefartoomuchspace
tosummarizehisworkhere.Butonthebasisof
Parker'sworkitcanbestatedthatinSomaliland
andSomalia
Latastia longicaudata
sometimes
inhabitsdrytoverydryhabitatsandthatthein-
dividualsineachhabitatlookdifferent,partlyin
termsoftheir(alwaysvariable)coloration,partly
intermsofscalationcharacters.
Aterrariumfor
Latastia longicaudata
Experienced terrariumkeeperswill beaware
thatthemaintenanceandbreedingofreptiles
fromdesertregionsusuallyinvolvesconsidera-
blymoreproblems than thatof reptiles from
rainforestareas.Thereare,ofcourse,anumber
ofveryprominentexceptions to this rule (leo-
pardgeckos,beardedagamas),buta rule re-
mainsarule,regardlessofexceptions.
The reasons for theproblems inmaintenance
andbreedingarewellknown.Indesertregions
the lizardsmustconstantlycontendwithcon-
siderablechanges inconditions.Thedaytime
temperaturecanriseto50°Canddropalmost
tofreezingpointatnight.Drinkingwaterisonly
rarelyavailable in thecourseof theyear,and
then toexcess.And the food supply ismea-
ger…Theseconditionscanbe reproduced to
onlyalimitedextentintheterrarium.Adistinct
drop in temperatureovernight isvery impor-
tantforthesuccessfulmaintenanceofdesertli-
zards like
Latastia longicaudata.
This can be
achieved comparativelyeasilyby turningoff
the lighting,whichwillusually result ina tem-
peraturedropofaround20°C.Thetemperature
should be around 45 °C beneath themain
sourceofwarmth intheterrarium,aheat lamp.
Thehigh lightrequirementofthese lizardscan
beprovidedwith fluorescent tubesandaUV
lamp in the terrarium.HQI-lampsalsoprovide
good light,butaren'tparticularlyeconomical
becauseof theirhighpurchasepriceandnot
inconsiderablerunningcosts.
