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Cordylus cordylus coastal form |
Cordylus cordylus inland form |
Cape girdled lizard
Cordylus cordylus coastal form
Cordylus cordylus inland form
Endemic, SVL 65 - 85 mm, max SVL 98 mm
This small girdled lizard has a flattened body and triangular, flattened head that is rough only on the posterior head shields. Males develop wider head than females. The nasals are usually in contact, separating the rostral and frontonasal, which is in contact with the loreals. The subocular does not reach the lip, and the prefrontals are usually in contact. The anterior parietals are smaller than the posterior ones. There are six small, non-spiny occipitals. The dorsal scales, which are large and faintly keeled (with the keels arranged in pararellel rows) are in 22 – 30 transverse and 16 – 22 longitudunal rows. The ventrals are smooth (but faintly keeled along the flanks) and usually in 12 longitudinal rows. There is a pair of feebly enlarged preanal plates. There are 4 – 10 femoral pores and a patch of glandular scales on each thigh. These are present in females from coastal regions but not in inland, montane populations. The tail has whorls of large spines. Coloration is varied. It is usually dull brown to reddish-brown, with irregular darker markings, and sometimes with a pale cream, irregular vertebral stripe. The belly is dirty yellow to dull red-brown. Biology and breeding: These girdled lizards often live in dense colonies (up to 300 specimens per hectare) where there are suitable rock cracks in which to shelter. Adults are aggresive, and form social hierarchies with dominant males. In territorial disputes males circle one another, bobbing their heads and aching their backs. The weaker male usually signals submission by moving its tail. Fights may ensue if dominance is not resolved by these rituals. They are active in the early morning and evening (and all day on overcast weather), foraging for insects in the veld and dashing back to cover when danger threatens. Predators include snakes, small carnivores and small birds of prey (including owls). They mate in spring and give birth to 1 – 3 young in January – February. Hatchlings measure 69 – 80 mm TL. They have lived up to 15 years in captivity. Habitat : Diverse; coastal cliffs, rock plateaus in fynbos montane grassland, and shale bands in mesic thicket. Range : Coastal regions of the Cape, from Saldanha Bay to East London, but absent from George to Witelbos, where it is replaced by the blue-spotted girdled lizard, C.coeruleopunctatus. Inland, through Cape fold mountains and montane grassland of NE Cape and SE Free State, to inland Transkei (E. Cape). Subspecies : Non are now recognized.