The Cape grass lizard (''Chamaesaura anguina''), also known as the Cape snake lizard or the highland grass lizard, is a species of lizard in the

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 ...

Chamaesaura The ''Chamaesaura'', also known as grass lizards, are a genus of legless lizards from southern and eastern Africa. The limbs are reduced to small spikes. Chamaesaura propel themselves like snakes, pushing against contact points in the environmen ...

. It widely found in southern Africa, inhabiting grasslands. In one of the countries it lives in,

Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...

, it is listed as a Near Threatened species. The Cape grass lizard is

ovoviviparous Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparity, oviparous and live-bearing viviparity, viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develo ...

. A discovery has shown females are not breeding at the same time in a year. This lizard has three

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

. They are the ''C. a. anguina'', the ''C. a. oligopholis'', and the ''C. a. tenuior''.

Distribution

The Cape grass lizard is widely distributed in the

grasslands A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur ...

of southern Africa. It has been reported in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

, the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

, and

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. The grasslands that the Cape grass lizard inhabits often have

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

Breeding

The Cape grass lizard is

, meaning eggs will stay inside the mother until they are ready to hatch. The average clutch size is three to seventeen eggs. A discovery has revealed that females are breeding throughout the year. This adaptation is probably to prevent the total loss of reproductive gain in a year due to fire.

Subspecies

The Cape grass lizard has three known

. * ''C. a. anguina'' - This subspecies was first described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in 1758. * ''C. a. tenuior'' - In 1895, Albert C. L. G. Günther described this subspecies. * ''C. a. oligopholis'' -

Laurent Laurent may refer to: *Laurent (name), a French masculine given name and a surname **Saint Laurence (aka: Saint ''Laurent''), the martyr Laurent **Pierre Alphonse Laurent, mathematician **Joseph Jean Pierre Laurent, amateur astronomer, discoverer ...

described this subspecies in 1964.

Conservation

The Southern African Red Data does not mention the Cape grass lizard. However, the Swaziland Red Data has the lizard listed as Near Threatened. The Transvaal grass lizard is also listed as a Near Threatened species. The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

lists this species as

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2061329 Reptiles described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Chamaesaura Reptiles of Eswatini Reptiles of Angola Reptiles of Kenya Reptiles of Tanzania Reptiles of Mozambique Reptiles of the Republic of the Congo Reptiles of Uganda Lizards of Africa Reptiles of South Africa

Distribution

Breeding

Subspecies

Conservation

See also

References