Agama aculeata
Silhouette: Natalie Claunch · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
Agama aculeata, the ground agama, is a species of lizard from the family Agamidae, found in most of sub-Saharan Africa (Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique, Southern Angola, Tanzania, Zambia, Eswatini).
Snout-to-vent length is 76–100 mm. With a triangular head and rounded snout, this agama is coloured olive to reddish-brown (sometimes grey or yellowish) with a light creamy-white to pink belly. There are four or five paired darker blotches on the back—many smaller blotches continue down the tail. Breeding males become blue on the sides of their heads.
Media related to Agama aculeata at Wikimedia Commons Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Etosha National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 3 | Namib-Naukluft National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia |
No species of the same family or order lives in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Ground Agama sighting in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park on a given day, based on 87 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 14 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–February and November
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Ground Agama in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park on a given day, against about 20% in June, the lowest month. Those are among Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park's wettest months, with about 25 mm of rain a month against almost none in July.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ground Agama sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Ground Agama sightings, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come Etosha National Park (Namibia, about 30%) and Namib-Naukluft National Park (Namibia, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ground Agama is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (87 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
