''Platysaurus broadleyi'', known commonly as the Augrabies flat lizard, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Cordylidae Cordylidae is a family of small- to medium-sized lizards that occur in southern and eastern Africa. They are commonly known as girdled lizards, spinytail lizards, or girdle-tail lizards. Cordylidae is closely related to the family Gerrhosaurida ...

. The species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to South Africa. Beolens B, Watkins M,

Grayson M Grayson may refer to: Places Canada * Grayson, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Grayson No. 184, Saskatchewan United States * Grayson, California * Grayson, Georgia ** Grayson High School * Grayson, Kentucky * Grayson, Louisiana * Gray ...

(2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Platysaurus broadleyi'', p. 39).

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''broadleyi'' is in honour of African

herpetologist Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

Donald George Broadley Donald George Broadley (1932–2016) was an African herpetologist. He described as new to science 115 species and subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for popula ...

. The original species description by Branch and Whiting (1997) makes it clear that the correct common name is the Augrabies flat lizard. It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as Broadley's flat lizard because the specific epithet is ''broadleyi''.

Geographic range

The Augrabies flat lizard has its geographic range for 200 km centred on

Augrabies Falls The Augrabies Falls is a waterfall on the Orange River, the largest river in South Africa. Since 1966 the waterfall, set in a desolate and rugged milieu, is enclosed by the Augrabies Falls National Park. The falls are around in height. Some so ...

, and west to

Pella Pella () is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It served as the capital of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. Currently, it is located 1 km outside the modern town of Pella ...

in the Northern Cape, South Africa. This area includes river valleys along the lower

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch language, Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibi ...

Northern Cape Province The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kga ...

, and

Gordonia District Gordonia may refer to: Biology * ''Gordonia'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants native to Southeast Asia and the Americas * ''Gordonia'' (bacterium), a genus of bacteria * ''Gordonia'' (synapsid), an extinct animal from the Permian Other uses * ...

Habitat

The preferred natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

of ''P. broadleyi'' is rocky areas in both

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

and

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

, at altitudes of .

Description

''P. broadleyi'' females and juveniles have a dark brown back, with three thick, cream stripes on the back. These stripes may be broken up into spots, or have spots in between the stripes. The belly is white, sometimes with a black dot on it, and at the rear there is an orange colour. The tail is straw-coloured. Adult males have a bluish head and a greenish back. A darker area in the middle and the vestiges of the juvenile stripes and spots are also present. The forelimbs are yellow to orange, the throat is dark blue, and the belly is black in the front but becomes orange near the tail. Above the tail, it is a tan colour, while below and on the sides, it is orange. All this colouration, while helping to attract females, also has a downside: predators such as

kestrel The term kestrel (from , derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour which is to hover ...

s easily spot them. Females, on the other hand, have much more subdued colouration and are less likely to be eaten. The Augrabies flat lizard is very similar to ''

Platysaurus capensis The Cape flat lizard or Namaqua flat lizard (''Platysaurus capensis'') is a lizard in the Cordylidae family found in Namibia and South Africa. Description Females and juveniles have a dark brown back with three wide white stripes which run down ...

'', or the Cape flat lizard, in scalation, but differs in having finer scalation on top of the forelimbs. Medium-sized for its

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

, ''P. broadleyi'' may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of .

Habits

Augrabies flat lizards are common on the granite walls of

Augrabies Falls National Park Augrabies Falls National Park is a national park located around the Augrabies Falls, about 120 km west of Upington in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. The Augrabies Falls National Park covers an area of 820 km2 and stretches ...

, where they are exposed to thousands of tourists. In summer, they perform acrobatic leaps to catch black flies on the wing from the swarms that gather near rivers, but they will also eat ripe berries of Namaqua figs. Augrabies flat lizards will follow bird flocks to find these fruit-laden trees. One major predator of this lizard is the

rock kestrel The rock kestrel (''Falco rupicolus'') is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family (biology), family Falconidae. It was previously considered a subspecies of the common kestrel (''Falco tinnunculus''). This spec ...

. Research indicates that the higher the UV levels on a male's throat, the more dominant it is and is less likely to be challenged. These flat lizards have been discovered to have a much higher visual sensitivity to UV light than other lizards species, allowing males to accurately distinguish between conspecifics of various fitness. They have as many as three times the number of UV

photoreceptor cells A photoreceptor cell is a specialized type of neuroepithelial cell found in the retina that is capable of visual phototransduction. The great biological importance of photoreceptors is that they convert light (visible electromagnetic radiatio ...

in their retina compared to other lizards.

Breeding

Sexual maturity in ''P. broadleyi'' is reached at around snout-vent length for both sexes. Females lay two clutches of eggs in early summer. Males demonstrate a preference for larger female mates, most likely due to the positive correlation between the size of a female and the eggs she produces.

References

External links

More informationBroadley's flat lizard at Aughrabies
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3019561 Platysaurus Endemic reptiles of South Africa Lizards of Africa Reptiles described in 1997 Taxa named by William Roy Branch