Flame-bellied Armadillo Lizard
Cordylus mossambicus
The Mozambique Girdled Lizard is a large, flattened girdled lizard found in the Gorongosa Mountains in Mozambique and low elevations in the Chimanimani Mountains at the border of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It lives in rock outcrops in grasslands and dry, wooded mountain slopes.
Mozambique Girdled Lizards reach 137.5 mm from snout to vent and 281 mm in total length . Males are dark brown to black above with bright orange undersides and black throats. Females and juveniles are dark brown above with small cream spots scattered on the neck and back. The belly and sides are gray with orange and black mottles on the lower jaws and throat.
Males are distinguished from the closely related Regal Girdled Lizard by the black chin and throat and the presence of brown patch in front of the cloaca on the belly. Females and juveniles of ''C. regius'' and ''C. mossambicus'' are nearly identical. In ''C. regius'' their heads are pale brown. Both species were once considered to be subspecies of the Warren’s Girdled Lizard .
The Mozambique Girdled Lizard is also called the Flame-bellied Armadillo Lizard, Gorongosa Girdled Lizard, or ''Cordylus gorongosa'' . Individuals are exported through Mozambique for the pet trade. They eat a wide variety of small insects , millipedes, spiders, and the occasional small vertebrate.
Mozambique Girdled Lizards reach 137.5 mm from snout to vent and 281 mm in total length . Males are dark brown to black above with bright orange undersides and black throats. Females and juveniles are dark brown above with small cream spots scattered on the neck and back. The belly and sides are gray with orange and black mottles on the lower jaws and throat.
Males are distinguished from the closely related Regal Girdled Lizard by the black chin and throat and the presence of brown patch in front of the cloaca on the belly. Females and juveniles of ''C. regius'' and ''C. mossambicus'' are nearly identical. In ''C. regius'' their heads are pale brown. Both species were once considered to be subspecies of the Warren’s Girdled Lizard .
The Mozambique Girdled Lizard is also called the Flame-bellied Armadillo Lizard, Gorongosa Girdled Lizard, or ''Cordylus gorongosa'' . Individuals are exported through Mozambique for the pet trade. They eat a wide variety of small insects , millipedes, spiders, and the occasional small vertebrate.