Pungwe flat lizard
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(Endemic) SVL 75-82 mm; max SVL 91 mm male, 80 mm female.
A medium sized platy that resembles the common flat lizard. P.intermedeus, but is smaller and has only 14-16 longitudinal rows of ventrals. It has opaque lower eyelids, each divided by series of vertical septa. The supranasals are fused with the nasals. The middle row of gulars is not very enlarged. The scales on the sides of the neck are spiny and enlarged, and those on the flanks are no larger than those on the back. Males have 13-20 femoral pores. Females and juvenils have a black back with three buff stripes, the middle one often being broken into spots or ending on the neck; there are no spots between the stripes. Adult males have varied coloration (see Subspecies). Biology : Common on low rock outcrops and large koppies. Feeds on beetles and ants. Habitat : Mesic savannah. Range : E.Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Subspecies : Two races and both occur in the region. P.p.pungweensis (red)has an occipital.Adult males have a brown back with yellow spots, a tail that is brown above and red on the sides, a blue throat blotched with black, a black collar and a blue chest and belly, females have a bluish-white belly. It occurs in the eastern Highklands of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. P.P.baklei (green)has a small occipital, or lacks one. Adult males have a dark green back, a red tail, a grey throat that lacks a collar, and a purple to black chest and belly; females have a blackish belly. It is found on S.Manica Platform in central Mozambique.