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Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Cladus: Unidentata Episquamata Toxicofera
Subordo: Iguania
Infraordo: Acrodonta

Familia: Agamidae
Subfamilia: Agaminae
Genus: Phrynocephalus
Subgenera (2): Oreosaura – Phrynocephalus
Overview of species (31)

P. ahvazicus – P. ananjevae – P. arabicus – P. axillaris – P. clarkorum – P. erythrurus – P. euptilopus – P. forsythii – P. frontalis – P. golubewii – P. guttatus – P. helioscopus – P. interscapularis – P. lutensis – P. luteoguttatus – P. maculatus – P. mystaceus – P. ornatus – P. persicus – P. przewalskii – P. putjatai – P. raddei – P. reticulatus – P. roborowskii – P. rossikowi – P. sakoi – P. scutellatus – P. strauchi – P. theobaldi – P. versicolor – P. vlangalii
Name

Phrynocephalus Kaup, 1825: BHL

Type species: Lacerta caudivolvula Pallas, 1814, by subsequent designation by Fitzinger (1843).

References
Primary references

Kaup, J.J. 1825. Einige Bemerkungen zu Merrems Handbuch. Isis von Oken 16(5): 589–593. BHLReference page.

Additional references

Barabanov, A.V. & Ananjeva, N.B. 2007. Catalogue of the available scientific species-group names for lizards of the genus Phrynocephalus Kaup, 1825 (Reptilia, Sauria, Agamidae). Zootaxa 1399(1): 1–56. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1399.1.1 Paywall Reference page.
Jin, Y.-T. & Brown, R.P. 2014. Species history and divergence times of viviparous and oviparous Chinese toad-headed sand lizards (Phrynocephalus) on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Molecular phylogenetics and evolution 68(2): 259–268. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2013.03.022Reference page.
Macey, J.R., Schulte, J.A. II, Ananjeva, N.B., Dyke, E.T.V., Wang, Y-Z., Orlov, N.L., Shafiei, S., Robinson, M.D., Dujsebayeva, T., Freund, G.S., Fischer, C.M., Liu, D. & Papenfuss, T.J. 2018. A molecular phylogenetic hypothesis for the Asian agamid lizard genus Phrynocephalus reveals discrete biogeographic clades implicated by plate tectonics. Zootaxa 4467(1): 1–81. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4467.1.1 Paywall Reference page.
Rahimian, H., Shafiei, S., Rastegar-Pouyani, N. & Rastegar-Pouyani, E. 2015. Phylogenetic relationships of the gray-toad agama, Phrynocephalus scutellatus (Olivier, 1807), species complex from Iran. Zootaxa 3990(3): 369–380. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3990.3.3. Preview (PDF) Reference page.

Vernacular names
հայերեն: Կորալուխ
русский: Круглоголовки

Phrynocephalus is a genus which includes 44 species of small and medium-sized agamid lizards, commonly called toadhead agamas or toad-headed agamas, that inhabit open arid and semiarid environments of Asia and Eastern Europe. The systematics of this genus are very complicated with many controversial points of view about the unclear phylogeny of this group. All representatives of this genus have adopted the so-called "sit and wait" hunting strategy and they actively use visual orientation when watching for food. In general, the ecological niche and role of Phrynocephalus species in lizard communities of arid environments of Asia are poorly studied, but seem to be similar to that of Phrynosoma, Cophosaurus, Holbrookia, Uta, and Sceloporus in the New World, as well as Moloch in Australia.
Species

The following 34 species are recognized as being valid.[1]

Phrynocephalus ahvazicus Melnikov et al., 2014
Phrynocephalus ananjevae Melnikov et al., 2013
Phrynocephalus arabicus J. Anderson, 1894 – Arabian toadhead agama
Phrynocephalus axillaris Blanford, 1875
Phrynocephalus clarkorum S.C. Anderson & Leviton, 1967
Phrynocephalus erythrurus Zugmayer, 1909
Phrynocephalus euptilopus Alcock & Finn, 1897 – Alcock's toad-headed agama
Phrynocephalus forsythii J. Anderson, 1872 – Forsyth's toadhead agama
Phrynocephalus frontalis Strauch, 1876 – Shansi toadhead agama
Phrynocephalus golubewii Shenbrot & Semyonov, 1990
Phrynocephalus guttatus (Gmelin, 1789) – spotted toadhead agama
Phrynocephalus helioscopus (Pallas, 1771) – sunwatcher toadhead agama
Phrynocephalus hispidus Bedriaga, 1909 – Dzhungar variegated toadhead agama
Phrynocephalus interscapularis Lichtenstein & Martens, 1856– Lichtenstein's toadhead agama
Phrynocephalus kulagini Bedriaga, 1909 – Kulagin’s variegated toadhead agama
Phrynocephalus lutensis Kamali & S.C. Anderson, 2015
Phrynocephalus luteoguttatus Boulenger, 1887 – yellow-speckled toad-headed agama
Phrynocephalus maculatus J. Anderson, 1872 – blacktail toadhead agama
Phrynocephalus mystaceus (Pallas, 1776) – secret toadhead agama

Phrynocephalus mystaceus in Astrakhan Oblast, Russia.

Phrynocephalus ornatus Boulenger, 1887
Phrynocephalus persicus De Filippi, 1863 – Persian toad-headed agama
Phrynocephalus przewalskii Strauch, 1876 – Przewalski's toadhead agama
Phrynocephalus putjatai Bedriaga, 1909
Phrynocephalus raddei Boettger, 1888
Phrynocephalus reticulatus Eichwald, 1831 – reticulated toad-headed agama
Phrynocephalus roborowskii Bedriaga, 1906 – Roborowski's toadhead agama
Phrynocephalus rossikowi Nikolsky, 1898 – Uzbekistan toadhead agama
Phrynocephalus sakoi Melnikov et al., 2015
Phrynocephalus scutellatus (Olivier, 1807) – gray toadhead agama
Phrynocephalus strauchi Nikolsky, 1899 – Strauch's toadhead agama
Phrynocephalus theobaldi Blyth, 1963 – Theobald's toad-headed agama, toad mounted lizard, snow lizard
Phrynocephalus versicolor Strauch, 1876 – Tuvan toad-headed agama
Phrynocephalus vindumi Golubev, 1998
Phrynocephalus vlangalii Strauch, 1876 – Ching Hai toadhead agama

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Phrynocephalus.
References

Phrynocephalus. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.

Further reading
"Caup [= Kaup JJ]" (1825). "Einige Bemerkungen zu Merrems Handbuch [= Some Remarks on Merrem's Handbook]". Isis von Oken 16: 589-593. (Phrynocephalus, new genus, p. 591). (in German).

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