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Sekukhune flat lizard
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(Endemic) SVL 70-75 mm; max SVL 90 mm
A large platy with a transparent ´window´in each lower eyelid.
The supranasals are fused with the nasals. The middle row of gulars is
enlarged. The scales on the sides of the neck are conical and enlarged, and
the ones on the heels and at the base of the tail are spiny. The ventrals are
mostly in 20-22 longitudinal rows. Males have 20 femoral pores. Females
and juvenils have a black back that is marked with three broad, cream-coloured
stripes with 1-2 faint spots between them. The throat is white with three dark
stripes, and the belly is white with black spots. Asult males hav a dark green
head with three pale stripes. The body is green with a new faint, light spots,
and the tail is orange or red above and yellow below. Ventral colouration varies
(see Subspecies)
Biology and breeding : Two eggs 17x7,5-8,5 mm)
are laid in a rock crack in early summer. The diet consist mainly of insects
and catepillars. Habitat : Mesic savannah. Range :
Mpumalanga Escarpment. Subspecies : Two races are recognized.
Adult males of typical P.o.orientalis (red)
have a green to blue chin, with darker markings on the throat, and a blue belly.
Widely distributed in Mpumalanga Drakensberg. In the male FitzSimons flat lizard,
P.o.fitzsismonsi) (green) the chin, throat
and chest are black with mottling on the lips. It is restricted to eastern Sekhukhuniland.
