Toad-headed Agama

The toad-headed agama is a small ground lizard with a broad head, flattened body and a tail marked by dark crossbands. Its grey, buff or reddish ground colour closely matches Gobi sand and gravel, and the pattern can shift with temperature. The tail is often raised or curled in social and defensive displays. It lacks adhesive toe pads and differs from Mongolia's racerunners in its broader head, rougher scales and shorter-looking body. (Wikipedia, Phrynocephalus versicolor account)

This species is characteristic of deserts and desert-steppe in Mongolia and northern China. It is active in daylight, warming in the sun before making short, fast runs across open ground. Individuals shelter in self-dug burrows or beneath cover and feed mainly on ants, beetles and other small arthropods. Reproduction is by eggs laid in soil. Although the source clearly supports a Mongolian Gobi distribution, it does not provide a named visitor site or exact national activity season. (Wikipedia, Phrynocephalus versicolor account)