We conducted field studies in 15 West African countries and collected one thousand specimens of lizards of the genus Agama . Based on these collections, literature, molecular analysis of selected specimens, and examination of Linnean type-specimens of A. agama , we review the phylogeny, taxonomy, geographic distribution and ecology of the West African species of the genus Agama . Seventeen different species are recognized in the genus Agama in West Africa, northern Cameroon and Chad: A. africana , A. agama , A. boensis , A. boueti , A. boulengeri , A. castroviejoi , A. cristata , A. doriae benueensis , A. gracilimembris , A. insularis , A. lebretoni , A. paragama , A. sankaranica , A. weidholzi , and three new species. We design a lectotype for A. agama (Linnaeus, 1758) and attribute to A. wagneri , sp. nov., the populations from northern and central Cameroon of the A. agama complex. Agama parafricana , sp. nov., is described from wet savanna areas of Togo and Benin. Agama sylvanus from southern Ghana is a junior synonym of A. africana . Agama cf. impalearis from northern Niger and Mali corresponds to an nondescribed species. Agama boensis is resurrected from the synonymy of A. sankaranica . According to biogeographic areas, four species are Sahelian, seven species are Sudanian, four species are Guinean, and two species are ubiquitous.