I would hazard a guess and say that cross breeding between the two subspecies has occurred in captivity as they are both similar in appearance. In fact cross breeding between U.d. maliensis and U.d. flavifasciata (a subspecies that is easily distinguished from either of the other two subspecies)has definitely occurred in captive animals.

KevinM, I think the opposite is actually happening. Because true Mali Uros are no longer legally exported, I believe some dealers are selling U. dispar dispar as Malis, as most people would never know the difference. But you are right about some protected species being exported to countries with no regulations and then re-exported to the U.S.

I wouldn't be surprised if in the future U. dispar dispar and U. dispar maliensis were shown to be the same. However, although it is true that in the past some subspecies (and even full species) have been lumped together, the opposite is equally true. That is, some geographic populations have proven to warrant subspecies or full species status. It really depends on a number of factors scientist look at. And as science advances more tools are brought in to help in clarifying the relationships between different populations of a species.Today DNA is used to show how far populations have diverged from each other. Most species were already named before we even knew what DNA was.

Male Uromastyx dispar dispar (fresh import)

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