{"id":362605,"date":"2026-05-11T14:44:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T09:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=362605"},"modified":"2026-05-11T15:56:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T10:26:29","slug":"spiny-tailed-lizards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/spiny-tailed-lizards\/","title":{"rendered":"Spiny-tailed Lizards"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"content-box-green\"><strong>News<\/strong>: A recent study examined seasonal nutrient intake, dietary adaptations, and foraging behaviour of Spiny-tailed Lizards in the Thar Desert<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"leftbox-black\">About Spiny-tailed Lizards<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_362609\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-362609\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-362609\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Source-Mongabay.jpg?resize=300%2C166&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Spiny-tailed Lizards\" width=\"300\" height=\"166\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Source-Mongabay.jpg?resize=300%2C166&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Source-Mongabay.jpg?resize=1024%2C567&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Source-Mongabay.jpg?resize=768%2C425&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Source-Mongabay.jpg?w=1339&amp;ssl=1 1339w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-362609\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source &#8211; Mongabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"leftbox-default\"><strong>Introduction<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>Indian Spiny-tailed Lizard<\/strong> (<strong>Saara hardwickii<\/strong>)\u00a0is a <strong>herbivorous<\/strong>, burrow-dwelling <strong>desert reptile<\/strong> adapted to harsh arid environments.<\/li>\n<li>It is\u00a0locally known as <strong>sanda or sandho.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"leftbox-default\"><strong>Habitat<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The species inhabits <strong>arid and semi-arid sandy plains<\/strong>, rocky hillocks, and open grounds with grasses, shrubs, khejri, and ker trees.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"leftbox-default\"><strong>Distribution<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>The species is found in the <strong>Thar Desert of northwestern India<\/strong> and in <strong>parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>In India, it is <strong>mainly restricted to the desert regions of northwest India<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It is <strong>locally extinct in Uttar Pradesh,<\/strong> while its population is <strong>declining in Madhya Pradesh.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"leftbox-default\"><strong>Characteristics<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Diet:<\/strong> The species <strong>mainly feeds on plants<\/strong>, but it also <strong>consumes insects during breeding periods<\/strong> to meet changing nutritional demands.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Burrow System:<\/strong> The lizard lives in colonies with <strong>burrows having a single opening and spoon-shaped tunnels<\/strong> for safety and protection.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Seasonal Adaptation:<\/strong> The species <strong>feeds actively after hibernation and stores additional fat before winter<\/strong> hibernation during September and October.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Territorial Behaviour:<\/strong> <strong>Male<\/strong> lizards <strong>protect productive feeding<\/strong> <strong>patches<\/strong> and often <strong>chase intruding lizards<\/strong> despite living close to each other in colonies.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ecological Role:<\/strong> The species supports the desert ecosystem through <strong>seed dispersal and also serves as prey<\/strong> for several predators.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"leftbox-default\"><strong>Threats<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Illegal wildlife trade<\/li>\n<li>Poaching for meat and oil<\/li>\n<li>Habitat fragmentation<\/li>\n<li>Urbanisation<\/li>\n<li>Agricultural expansion<\/li>\n<li>Canal irrigation<\/li>\n<li>Industrial projects<\/li>\n<li>Climate change<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"leftbox-default\"><strong>Conservation Status<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li><strong>IUCN Status:<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Vulnerable <\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>CITES Listing:<\/strong> Appendix II<\/li>\n<li>Schedule II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: A recent study examined seasonal nutrient intake, dietary adaptations, and foraging behaviour of Spiny-tailed Lizards in the Thar Desert About Spiny-tailed Lizards Introduction The Indian Spiny-tailed Lizard (Saara hardwickii)\u00a0is a herbivorous, burrow-dwelling desert reptile adapted to harsh arid environments. It is\u00a0locally known as sanda or sandho. Habitat The species inhabits arid and semi-arid sandy&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/spiny-tailed-lizards\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Spiny-tailed Lizards<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10401,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,4182,12039,11834],"tags":[11872],"class_list":["post-362605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-environment","category-knolls","category-species-in-news","tag-9pm-daily-factly","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362605\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}