Saw-Scaled Viper (Echis carinatus) Found along the coast, in the open desert and in the mountains. Its name derives from the fact that along the sides of its body it has several rows of diagonal scale...
Amphisbaenid One reptile-like animal that is neither snake nor lizard, is the amphisbaenid (Diplometopon zarudni ). Its short stocky body grows to approximately 20 cms in length. Much stronger than th...
Near Buraimi the mountains give way to large sandy plains separated by low fossil bearing ridges. If it is still early in the day, large bushes of Convolvulus deserti can be found showing off its whit...
Skinks Adapted like the sand boa to live in the soft sand is the sand skink (Scincus mitranus ) popularly known as the sand fish . In the early morning it can be observed basking on the sunny flank of...
The higher slopes of the mountains must be climbed in order to see the plants that occur there. Hibiscus micranthus, aptly named for its 2 mm diameter flower, Euphorbia larica, Teucrium stocksianum an...
Horned viper (Cerastes cerastes gasperetii ) Similar in appearance to the false horned viper, is the horned viper (Cerastes cerastes gasperetii ) often also referred to as the sand viper. Confusion ar...
Since 1980 there have been years of drought interspersed with good rains in the winters of 1982, 1987 and 1988; but the rains of 1996 were the most copious since 1962, according to local farmers. Many...
The east coast road affords different views every few minutes. In some places the Hajjar mountains reach to the sea, while in other places extensive palm groves hide white-washed villages. The plantat...
Tidal creeks cut into the coastline from Sharjah northwards. Mangroves are abundant, but low, and the landspits in between the creeks are covered with the same grasses and halophytes, that occur all a...
Toads In the United Arab Emirates the amphibians are only represented by two toads the Arabian toad (Bufo arabica ) and the Dhofar toad (Bufo dhofarensis ), the latter having been confirmed in our reg...