Karoo girdled lizard

Appearance

Heavily armoured, thick scales run down the back and tail, with sharp spines protecting the soft, vulnerable underparts from potential predators. Colouration in adult Karoo girdled lizards varies greatly between regions, and individuals may display turquoise, olive-brown, or reddish-brown patterning, while black morphs occur in coastal regions. However, all populations retain a distinctive black spot on the side of the neck, between the ears and the front limbs. Juvenile colouration is more consistent, but equally attractive, with prominent dark-brown banding on a yellow-brown body, checked with cream.
Size: Average snout-vent length: 9 – 10.5 cm, Maximum snout-vent length: 11.3 cm

Naming

Common names: African spiny-tailed lizard, smooth-backed girdle-tailed lizard

Distribution

The Karoo girdled lizard possibly has the widest range of any cordylid, and is found throughout the Karoo region of western South Africa, northwards, into southern Namibia.

Status

There are no specific conservation measures in place for the Karoo girdled lizard, but it is listed under Appendix II of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), meaning that international trade in this species must be carefully monitored.

Behavior

Highly conspicuous during the day, this diurnal lizard can be seen basking on rocky outcrops, soaking up the sunlight to heat its body. Hampered by the weight of the body armour, the Karoo girdled lizard moves slowly, making it vulnerable to predation and, as a result, individuals never stray far from the protection of a rocky crevice. If a predator is sighted, it will retreat into a defensive cavity, and the spiny tail will curl around the body, presenting an impregnable defensive barricade to the predator. The Karoo girdled lizard is a sit-and-wait predator, lingering close to its crevice, waiting for beetles and grasshoppers to pass, before making short bursts to catch its prey. However, juveniles are more active foragers, and will travel further in search of food.

Habitat

The Karoo girdled lizard inhabits rocky outcrops in semi-desert areas, with succulent karroid and renosterveld vegetation, characteristic of the Karoo region. It typically inhabits lower altitudes within its range.

Reproduction

Unusually for a lizard, the Karoo girdled lizard is gregarious, and small groups will occupy the same rocky outcrop. Individuals may hibernate during the winter in a tunnel dug in the soil beneath a boulder, before the breeding season commences in late spring. The Karoo girdled lizard is ovoviviparous, meaning fertilised eggs are retained inside the female’s body, and the female gives birth to between one and five live young in late summer.