Cordylus cordylus
Encyclopedia
Cordylus cordylus is a medium-sized lizard that is indigenous to the southern Cape
of South Africa
.
The Cape Girdled Lizard has a golden-brown body with spiny, keeled, body scales - especially on its tail.
It is indigenous to the Western Cape
and Eastern Cape
provinces of South Africa
, from Saldanha and Cape Town
eastwards as far as Lesotho
. It lives in large colonies (with social hierarchies), on rocky crags and outcrops as well as on mountain summits. The lizards hide in rocky cracks, but come out in the morning and evening to forage. If threatened, they retreat to their holes and cracks in the rock, wedge themselves in and lock their bodies there by inflating their lungs. Jammed into the cracks like this, with their thorny tail wrapped protectively over their faces, they are incredibly difficult to prise out. They can often be seen sunbathing on top of prominent rocks. In the autumn, the females give birth to one or two babies, which stay very near the mother for the first year.
They feed on insects which they run out and pounce on.
Cape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa...
of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
The Cape Girdled Lizard has a golden-brown body with spiny, keeled, body scales - especially on its tail.
It is indigenous to the Western Cape
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...
and Eastern Cape
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province...
provinces of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, from Saldanha and Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
eastwards as far as Lesotho
Lesotho
Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...
. It lives in large colonies (with social hierarchies), on rocky crags and outcrops as well as on mountain summits. The lizards hide in rocky cracks, but come out in the morning and evening to forage. If threatened, they retreat to their holes and cracks in the rock, wedge themselves in and lock their bodies there by inflating their lungs. Jammed into the cracks like this, with their thorny tail wrapped protectively over their faces, they are incredibly difficult to prise out. They can often be seen sunbathing on top of prominent rocks. In the autumn, the females give birth to one or two babies, which stay very near the mother for the first year.
They feed on insects which they run out and pounce on.
Further Reading
- Branch, B., 1998. Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa: Ralph Curtis Books Publishing, Sanibel Island, Florida, 399 p.
- Fitzsimons, V. F., 1943. The Lizards of South Africa: Transvaal Museum Memoir, Pretoria.