Herpetology sounds like a disease; in the cases of Thomas Wilms and Marco Wagemann, it is certainly an addiction. Their lives are filled with the study of snakes and reptiles and in particular, the genus uromastyx — “animal that slashes with its tail” — or spiny-tailed lizards. Their particular interest in Saudi Arabia is the dhub, a large desert-dwelling lizard that, although a protected species in the Kingdom, are hunted for sport, kept as pets and even eaten.
Both are long-time aficionados of reptiles; Wilms started keeping lizards at the age of 10.
“I saw them in a zoo — it was love at first sight. I studied herpetology at university — and it was the natural choice for a master’s thesis,” he said.
Wagemann, whose father is a herpetologist, caught his first frog at three years old, but the frog hooked him for life.
Wilms is zoological director of Reptilium, a zoo in Landau, Germany that specializes in reptiles. Both he and Wagemann are in the Kingdom to set up a project to study the dhub and its ecological importance in the Kingdom’s ecosystem.
“Very little detail is known about the ecology of these animals,” he said.
His master’s thesis was on uromastyx, a genus that inhabits an area that covers the whole Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region from Mauritania to India.
“They play a central role in the old-world deserts,” said Wilms.
Around 16 species have been identified living in the region. Some species were scientifically described by the taxonomists of the 19th century, but, says Wilms, “since then, no one has worked on them.”
The taxonomy within this genus was unsatisfactory to Wilms.
“I had to rearrange the whole taxonomy, describe three new species, one each in the United Arab Emirates, Libya and Algeria.”
Adhering to the long tradition in taxonomy, the creatures’ scientific names have incorporated Wilms’ in honor of the person who first identified them, such as Uromastyx thomasi.
Wagemann joined the project to study the Arabian dhub after working with Wilms at Reptilium. His master’s thesis is a study of the way uromastyx interacts with the plant and insect life in the areas it inhabits.
“I will be looking at the insects in the region and the way they interact with the lizards,” he said.
In western Saudi Arabia is another species of spiny-tailed lizard. Wilms said that it was unclear genetically if the populations belonged to two different species, whether they were different sub-species or if they are only different forms of one species.
“The main tasks,” he said, “are to sort out the taxonomy of the one lizard species and the ecology of the other.”
Wilms and Wagemann were fulsome in their praise for the sponsorship and enthusiastic support they received, particularly from Abdul Aziz Abu Zinada Secretary General of the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development (NCWCD).
“Zoos in Germany are obliged as part of their brief to conduct research programs,” he said. “We put together a proposal and some finance; the NCWCD provided all the infrastructure and comprehensive facilities at the wildlife research center — Mahazat Al-Sayd — near Taif.” The area, when they visited five years ago, had a remarkable density of these lizards. “That is why we chose it for this study,” said Wilms.
Why though does investigation and differentiation of the species matter? Wilms was very clear in his reasons: “We have to know what exists on earth to save it and safeguard the populations and the world’s biodiversity. That is one of the major tasks for the future.”
He said that the domino effect from losing one species might end up causing major problems later; he gave the introduction of rabbits into Australia as an example; they were introduced as a food-stock but quickly spread and destroyed crops.
“Uromastyx lizards are deeply involved in the ecological network and, to be frank, we do not know what their importance is,” said Wilms.
They are herbivores for 90 percent of their lives and no one knows if these lizards play an important role in keeping the desert vegetation at a high level by, for example, spreading the seeds through their excrement.
Wagemann is constantly amazed that such a huge herbivorous lizard can survive even in the driest parts of the desert.
“I want to find out how and why they survive, find their food, find shelter to survive during very hot and dry periods,” he said.
He said that uromastyx have the camel-like ability to store and convert fat to water.
“They store fat in the tail during the good parts of the year and then use it to produce water,” he said. “They convert at the rate of 1g of fat to 1.2 g of water.”
The dhub, the focus of the research, dig burrows that can extend for 30 meters and down to a depth of two meters.
These burrows provide opportunities for a number of different animals — insects, spiders, other reptiles, and even birds — to survive the harsh desert environment. If these burrows were not there, many species would get into trouble and could not survive in the region — in other words, the domino effect.
“Moreover, if we eliminated lizards, which were important to spreading desert plants and preventing desertification, then we speed up the process,” said Wagemann.
The dhub still has secrets to reveal. Wagemann indicated just one. If a drop of water is placed on the skin of a dhub or any uromastyx, the droplet will disappear at once. If it rains they absorb water. It is this sponge-like characteristic of some desert lizards that enable them to adapt well to deserts.
“No one knows how they do that,” he said. “It is not a part of this study to find out — we are concerned with the basic ecological data; but perhaps in the future.”
