Barabanov and Milto (2017) give the authority of this species as 'Lichtenstein, 1823', however, the name Scincus pannonicus was reported in this source (correctly, Fitzinger in Lichtenstein, 1823) without an associated description, and is consequently considered a nomen nudum by Uetz et al. (2018). The correct authority is consequently 'Fitzinger, 1824', in which publication the species was formally described (P. Uetz pers. comm. 2018).

Melnikov et al. (2014) recognized four species within what was previously considered Phrynocephalus arabicus, elevating the two recognized subspecies (P. a. macropeltis and P. a. nedjensis) to species level, and describing a new species from Iran: P. ahvazicus. The Reptile Database (Uetz et al. 2018) describes the description of the new species as ""rather confusing"" due to a lack of clarity about the tissue samples used and inconsistencies between the number of specimens studied and those reported in their results. Melnikov et al. (2014) do not formally redescribe P. arabicus or fully diagnose or characterize the distributions of P. macropeltis or P. nedjensis. AData deficientitionally, the authors report that morphological differentiation between P. arabicus and P. macropeltis requires further investigation.The Reptile Database (Uetz et al. 2018) consequently currently recommends rejecting the action of Melnikov et al. (2014) pending further research, and this scheme is followed here. Although Uetz et al. (2018) treat P. ahvazicus as a valid species, recognizing it as distinct would render P. arabicus sensu lato paraphyletic based on the molecular results presented by Melnikov et al. (2014). P. ahvazicus is consequently retained within P. arabicus here.

Currently, two subspecies of Phrynocephalus maculatus Anderson, 1872 are recognised within its wide and discontinuous range. The nominotypic form is distributed in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, whilst P. m. longicaudatus Haas, 1957 - which Anderson 1999 suggested might be specifically distinct - is distributed mostly along the Arabian Gulf (Anderson 1999), reported from Oman, United Arab Emirates (the) and Saudi Arabia (Arnold 1986).Populations from Turkmenistan are now considered distinct as Phrynocephalus goluewii (N. Ananjeva and N. Orlov pers. comm. 2008). Phrynocephalus maculatus is the second Phrynocephalus species known to occur in Jordan (Baker et al. 2005).

This species is in need of taxonomic review as it is almost certainly a complex of species (S. Baha El Din pers. comm. 2009). There are three subspecies.

A previous assessment (Mousa Disi et al. 2010) of this taxon followed Arnold (1980), Å äerbak and Golubev (1996) and Disi (2002) in considering Bunopus blanfordii to be a synonym of B. tuberculatus. More recently Bauer et al. (2013) considered B. blanfordii a valid species. These authors do not discuss this assignment but state that they consider it valid ""pending further investigation"". As they provide no information on this taxon's distribution or differentiation from B. tuberculatus, B. blanfordii is tentatively retained within the species concept applied here. Phylogenetic analyses presented by Machado et al. (2018) show B. blanfordii nested within B. tuberculatus, indicating that recognizing it as distinct would render B. tuberculatus as presently understood, but these authors do not comment on this finding. This is a complicated species complex, and the genetics of B. blanfordii are currently under review to clarify its identity and true distribution (N. Ananjeva and T. Papenfuss pers. comm. 2016).

This species was described in 1834 as Coluber ventromaculatus (Smith 1943). The type locality is unknown. This species is included in Platyceps following Nagy et al. (2004). Western populations of Platyceps ventromaculatus differ from populations in South Asia (India and Pakistan) for which the name Coluber chesneii Martin, 1838 is available. Schätti et al. (2012) determined that C. chesneii represents a subspecies of Platyceps karelini, removing these populations from P. ventromaculatus.Khan and Khan (2000) didn't specify any neotype for their new subspecies which are based on a figure in Gray (1830). The status of these subspecies, therefore, remains uncertain (no holotype specified, no valid description after ICZN) (Uetz et al. 2018). Barabanov (2003) indicated that the name C. v. bengalensis is not available and suggested the replacement name C. v. khanorum. Coluber ventromaculatus Gray, 1834 is the type species of the genus Platyceps Blyth, 1860. Its occurrence in the Himalayan foothills (Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal) and the specific identity of the holotype of P. semifasciatus Blyth, 1860 needs further investigation. P. ventromaculatus crosses the Indus Valley and is found, for instance, along the Makran littoral to as far west as the border area with Iran. Coluber chesneii Martin, 1838 may be a valid northern Saharo-Arabian taxon of the genus Platyceps Blyth, 1860 (Schätti and Schmitz 2006).