Notes on natural history and conservation of the Indian Spiny-tailed Lizard (Saara hardwickii)
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: hardwickii (Agamidae: Uromastycinae), is widely distributed in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan (Wilms et al. 2009).In India, the species, locally known as "Sandha" or "Sandho," occurs throughout the arid zones of western and northwestern states.This species is protected in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 (now the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022; Ministry of Law and Justice 2022) and is listed as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Vyas et al. 2022).This ground-dwelling herbivorous, diurnally active lizard is associated with dry landscapes in hotter parts of its range (Wagner et al. 2016;Tatu et al. 2024).The Indian Spinytailed Lizard inhabits sandy and gravel plains, dry, arid, and semi-arid grasslands, scrub forests, and the periphery of dry deciduous forests.This species faces various threats, including poaching, national and international trade, and collection for medicines and food.Many populations are depleted due to these threats, from minor to major; the most significant is loss of habitat and habitat alteration (Vyas et al. 2022; Bhardwaj 2023).Kaur et al. (2020) stated that this species was once very widely distributed in many parts of western and northwestern India, including Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat (Smith 1935; Husain 1997; Chandra and Gajbe 2005; Dutta and Jhala 2007; Das et al. 2015; Srivastava et al. 2018), but now is limited to small, fragmented populations in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan and the dry arid parts of Gujarat, especially Kutch and the surroundings of Little Rann of Kutch (LRK).The semi-arid LRK landscape, including the saline mud plain and surrounding fringe villages, covers an area of about 5,000 km 2 near the southern coast of the Gulf of Kutch (23.16, 70.75; 23.75, 71.75).A total of 4,953.71km 2 of the LRK landscape was designated as a Wildlife Sanctuary for the Indian Wild Ass (Equus hemionus khur).The vegetation of this region is dominated by the invasive mesquite, Neltuma (formerly Prosopis) juliflora, known as "Vilayati Babul."Native trees, including Acacia nilotica, A. senegal, Salvadora
Source: Reptiles & Amphibians
Authors: Raju Vyas, Kartik Upadhayay, Mital Patel
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4409393693