Phrynocephalus mystaceus (Pallas, 1776)

Jablonski, Daniel, Regan, John M., Holzheuser, Chace, Farooqi, Javeed, Basit, Abdul & Masroor, Rafaqat, 2019, Additional data to the herpetofauna of Afghanistan, Herpetozoa 32, pp. 177-193 : 177

Phrynocephalus mystaceus (Pallas, 1776)

Distribution in Afghanistan.

This species is currently known from only three provinces (Balkh, Faryab, Jowzjan) in northern Afghanistan ( Wagner et al. 2016). Clark (1990) mentioned this species as common.

Our records

( Fig. 2 ). Shor Tepah, Balkh (8 September 2011), one adult individual ( Fig. 4C ) in sand dunes area near the Amu Darya River.

Remarks.

Our record is the northernmost for the species in Afghanistan, only 2000 m from the border with Uzbekistan.

Figures

Figure 2. Updated herpetofaunistic records from Afghanistan (white dots: data of Buchroithner, 1981; Wagner et al. 2016; Jablonski et al. 2019; red dots: data of this study). Bufotes viridis complex (including species B. oblongus, B. baturae / pseudoraddei, B. turanensis and B. zugmayeri presented by Wagner et al. 2016): 1 - Dehdadi, Balkh; 2 - Nahr Shahi, Balkh; 3 - Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh; 4 - Arga Queshlaq, Badakhshan; 5 - Broghil Pass, Badakhshan; 6 - Camp Dubs - Kabul, Kabul; 7 - Kandahar, Air Base, Kandahar. Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis: Kandahar, Air Base, Kandahar. Testudo horsfieldii: 1 - Pol-e-Khomri, Baghlan; 2 - Lagman Base, Qalat, Zabul; 3 - Waza Kwah, Paktika. Phrynocephalus mystaceus: Shor Tepah, Balkh. Trapelus agilis: 1 - Camp Mike Spann Chapel, Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh; 2 - Lashkargah, Helmand; 3 - Kandahar, Air Base, Kandahar; 4 - Lagman Base, Qalat, Zabul; 5 - Tarin Kowt, Uruzgan. Trapelus megalonyx: 1 - Kandahar, Air Base, Kandahar; 2 - Gardez, Gardez Base, Paktia.

Figure 4. Observed species of Dicroglossidae, Testudinidae and Agamidae families from Afghanistan: A - adult individuals of Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis from Kandahar, Air Base, Kandahar; B - adult individual of Testudo horsfieldii from Pol-e-Khomri, Baghlan; C - adult individual of Phrynocephalus mystaceus from Shor Tepah, Balkh; D - juvenile individual of Trapelus agilis from Lashkargah, Helmand; E - adult male of T. agilis from Lagman Base, Qalat, Zabul; F, G - adult and subadult males of T. agilis from Kandahar, Air Base, Kandahar; H - adult male of T. aff. megalonyx from Gardez Base, Gardez, Paktia; I - adult individual of T. aff. megalonyx from Kandahar, Air Base, Kandahar.