Black girdled lizard
| Black girdled lizard | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A black girdled lizard on Table Mountain (with a millipede on its nose) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Cordylidae |
| Genus: | Cordylus |
| Species: | C. niger |
| Binomial name | |
| Cordylus niger Smith, 1844 | |
The black girdled lizard, Cordylus niger, is a medium-sized lizard restricted to Table Mountain on the Cape Peninsula and a second, isolated population near Langebaan.
Black girdled lizards inhabit rocky outcrops on Table Mountain, South Africa. Unlike many other lizard species in the area, these particular Cordylus lizards are not social and are usually seen alone. They are spiny, flat, and pitch black in colour.
Their colour helps these unique lizards to absorb sufficient heat from the sun, in what is one of the darkest, least sunny parts of South Africa.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cordylus niger. |
Gallery
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Black Girdled Lizard, Table Mountain, Cape Town
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Close up of the head of a Black Gridled Lizard
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Black girdled lizard on a rock, Table Mountain.
References
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.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, April 25, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.