Sudanese vs. Egyptian Ocellated Uromastyx

Doug Dix says that the Sudanese Uro has the more vibrant color base than the Egyptian subspecies. But I don't see many breeders differentiating between subspecies. Is there one default subspecies when breeders say "Ocellated"?. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

The Uromastyx family tree gets kinda complicated and gets re-classified every so often, with subspecies designation coming and going. Common names also confuse things.

What Doug Dix describes as Sudanese Uromastyx (U. ocellata) is often called "Dwarf Sudanese Uromastyx" by other breeders, but they usually just say Ocellated. I don't know if the subspecies from Egypt has a scientific name. They also aren't really present in the US.

There is another uro called Sudan Uromastyx, which is generally U. dispar dispar and is not very well established in the US. There is some confusion over the classification of all the dispars, which Doug Dix classifies as their own species. I'll have to check up on the latest Wilms research using DNA data.

Thanks a lot Spyral. That clarifies a lot. Not to abuse you're knowledge (and this doesn't related exactly), but do you know how to differentiate between a U. Benti and a U. Yemenensis? I've heard that some Benti have colorful sides. Not to mention they can breed together...

A U. Benti is distinctly orange throughout the body and much more rare in herpetoculture once Rainbow Benti (U. Yemenensis) were identified as different sub-species/species. Short white stripes occur across the back. They can have some dark green coloration on the belly which creeps up the sides a bit and can cover the head in a mottled color with the orange present. They are bulkier and longer than Rainbow benti.

Rainbows have gradation from orange tail and lower back which fades out in the middle with gradation green, blue, even lavender color towards the head. A lot have been imported, more so than the Orange benti, but are difficult to establish in comparison to the more commonly kept Uros (ornates, malis, Egyptian, etc).

They do integrade in the wild & captivity but it should be possible to identify mature specimens.

Thanks again.