Zimbabwe girdled lizard
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SVL 60 - 80 mm, max SVL 91 mm
A small girdled lizard with a very flattened body and triangular head that has smooth or slightly rough head shields. The nasals are usually in contact, separating the rostral and the frontonasal, which is four-sided and separate from the loreals. There are six, non-spiny occipitals. The dorsal scales are small and slightly keeled down the back, in 25 - 29 transverse and 20-26 longitudinal rows. The laterals are keeled. The ventrals are smooth (except the outermost preanal plates) and in 12-14 rows. Both sexes have 5- 8 femoral pores on each thigh. The tail has whorls of large spines. The back is olive-brown, with irregular darker markings and sometimes with paler blotches on the upper flanks. The belly is yellowish or greyish-white. Biology : This girdled lizard is longlived and slow-growing. It lives under stones and in rock cracks on rocky outcrops, and feeds on beetles and grasshoppers. Predators include the berg adder. Habitat : Montane grassland Range : Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe and adjacent Mozambique, with an isolated population on Nyika Plateau, Malawi.