Coffee Barista Herpatologist

I was at the local coffee shop last week and the discussion turned to scary things. The barista admitted to being bothered by spiders with too many legs, but that snakes and lizards didn't bother her. It seems she has several pet lizards at home.

I mentioned that I had seen several lizards crawling about during my travels through Mali on the way to Timbuktu. I even had a photograph of one. I brought the picture in to the coffee shop yesterday and she identified it, with the help of a smart phone, as a Rainbow Agama or Agama agama to be scientific. Apparently it is a member of the iguana family of lizards.



The broken tail is likely the result of battles with other male lizards.