The specific name, hardeggeri, is in honor of Austrian physician Dominik Kammel von Hardegger (1844–1915), who explored in Ethiopia and Somalia.

[2] The preferred natural habitats of P. hardeggeri are desert and savanna, at altitudes below 1,100 m (3,600 ft).

In 1917 the species was assigned to the genus Philochortus as Philocortus hardeggeri by Belgian-British herpetologist George Albert Boulenger.

Boulenger also determined that two other species, Eremias heterolepis Boettger, 1893 and Latastia degeni Boulenger, 1903 are junior synonyms of Philocortus hardeggeri.

This lizard from family Lacertidae article is a stub.