The New International Encyclopædia/Agama

AG′AMA (Caribbean name). A genus of insectivorous ground-lizards allied to the iguanas, and confined to the warm climates of Africa, Australia, Asia, and southern Russia. The handsome armed agama, or toque (Agama armata) of South Africa is strikingly adorned and reaches twenty inches in length. Another very brilliant species is the spiny Agama colonorum of the Gold Coast. One of those of southeastern Europe best known is the stellio (Agama stellio), which is commonly tamed and kept in captivity by Arabic jugglers in Egypt, who call it hardun.