biology

Laudakia stellio

Laudakia stellio is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Laudakia stellio rather than just read about it. In short: Laudakia stellio is a species of agamid lizard. also known as the starred agama or the roughtail rock agama. Common names Common names for L. stellio include dikenli keler, hardim, hardun, kourkoutas (Cypriot Greek), kourkoutavlos, painted dragon, roughtail rock agama, short-toed rock agama, sling-tailed agama, star lizard, starred agama, and stellion.

Key takeaways

Laudakia stellio belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Laudakia stellio to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Laudakia stellio from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Laudakia stellio is a species of agamid lizard. also known as the starred agama or the roughtail rock agama.

Common names Common names for L. stellio include dikenli keler, hardim, hardun, kourkoutas (Cypriot Greek), kourkoutavlos, painted dragon, roughtail rock agama, short-toed rock agama, sling-tailed agama, star lizard, starred agama, and stellion.

Geographic range Laudakia stellio can be found in Greece and Turkey, the other species in this species complex are recorded elsewhere.

Description Laudakia stellio may attain a total length (including tail) of 35 cm (14 in) or slightly longer.

Behaviour and habitat Like many agamids, L. stellio can change its color to express its mood. It basks on stone walls, rocks, and trees. It is usually found in rocky habitats, and is quite shy, being very ready to dive into cracks to hide from potential predators.

Etymology The common name "stellion" comes from Latin stellio, stēlio (stelliōn-, stēliōn-), from stella, star. It may have referred to any spotted lizard.

Mythology Stellio is mentioned in Ovids Metamorphoses Book 5 line 461. A naughty boy mocks the goddess Ceres for drinking a drink containing honey and barley with too much greed, as she is quite thirsty. Angrily the goddess throws the drink in the face of the boy, and there by changes him into a Stellio or a starred agama. It is an etiological myth explaining how the starred agama got its spotted skin.

Uses For the indigenous people of Europe, and perhaps the Middle East, traditionally the excrement of the stellio was a popular medicine for the eyes, also used as a cosmetic, known as cordylea, crocodilea or stercus lacerti (i.e. 'lizard shit'), the faeces being imported to European pharmacies from the Levant – a rarer and more potent form was acquired from monitor lizards in olden days (stercus magni lacerti). The dung was used to improve one's eyesight, as well as take away any itches and cure cataracts (webbe).

Subspecies

The following 2 subspecies, including the nominotypical subspecies, are recognized as being valid.

Laudakia stellio daani (Beutler & Frör, 1980) Laudakia stellio stellio (Linnaeus, 1758) Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Laudakia.

References

Further reading Arnold EN, Burton JA (1978). A Field Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Britain and Europe. (Illustrated by D. W. Ovenden). London: Collins. 272 pp. + Plates 1–40. (Agama stellio, pp. 110–111 + Plate 16 + Map 54 + map on p. 113). Boulenger GA (1885). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume I. ... Agamidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii +436 pp. + Plates I-XXXII. (Agama stellio, pp. 368–369). Linnaeus (1758). Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio Decima, Reformata. Stockholm: L. Salvius. 824 pp. (Lacerta stellio, new species, p. 202). (in Latin).

External links

European Field Herping Community

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Laudakia stellio

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Laudakia stellio claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Laudakia stellio before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Laudakia stellio ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Laudakia stellio

In research: Laudakia stellio appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Laudakia stellio in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Laudakia stellio is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus, IUCN Red List least concern species, Laudakia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Laudakia stellio outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Laudakia stellio in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Laudakia stellio means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Laudakia stellio out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Laudakia stellio in simple terms?

Laudakia stellio is a species of agamid lizard. also known as the starred agama or the roughtail rock agama. Common names Common names for L. stellio include dikenli keler, hardim, hardun, kourkoutas (Cypriot Greek), kourkoutavlos, painted dragon, roughtail rock agama, short-toed rock agama, sling…

Why does Laudakia stellio matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Laudakia stellio?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Laudakia stellio.