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 ...

''Cordylus'' (

Sauria Sauria is the clade of diapsids containing the most recent common ancestor of Archosauria (which includes crocodilians and birds) and Lepidosauria (which includes squamates and the tuatara), and all its descendants. Since most molecular phyl ...

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 ...

) includes a wide variety of

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), ...

of small to medium spiny lizards from Africa, collectively called girdle-tailed lizards or girdled lizards. All are diurnal and

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 ...

(live-bearing, without shelled eggs). Most species are rupicolous (rock-dwelling), while a few species are arboreal or live in burrows. They defend themselves with osteoderms (flat bony plates in the skin) and by quickly retreating into rock crevices or burrows. Many species live in groups, and males defend territories. Cordylids are generally listed under

CITES CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...

Appendix II. They are not necessarily threatened with extinction, but trade is controlled to prevent

overexploitation Overexploitation, also called overharvesting or ecological overshoot, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to ...

. Some species of ''Cordylus'' have limited ranges and may be threatened with

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

or over collecting for the pet trade.

Classification

Broadley (2006) recognized 47 species in the genus ''Cordylus'', including eight species originally placed in the genus ''

Pseudocordylus ''Pseudocordylus'' is a genus of small to large Cordylidae, girdled lizards from South Africa, commonly known as crag lizards. Six species of ''Pseudocordylus'' are known; they are distinguished from girdled lizards of the genus ''Cordylus'' by ...

'' (''P. fasciatus'', ''P. langi'', ''P. melanotus'', ''P. microlepidotus'', ''P. nebulosus'', ''P. spinosus'', ''P. subviridis'', and ''P. transvaalensis'') and ''Hemicordylus capensis''. The greatest diversity of cordylids is in South Africa, with a few species found in Angola and eastern Africa as far north as Ethiopia. Other members of the Cordylidae are the

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

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 ...

'' (a group of legless lizards from southern and eastern Africa) and ''

Platysaurus ''Platysaurus'' is a genus of lizards, commonly known as flat lizards for their flat backs, in the Family (biology), family Cordylidae. Geographic range All species in the genus ''Platysaurus'' live in isolated populations in southern Africa. ...

''. The sister group of Cordylidae is the plated lizards,

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 ...

Gerrhosauridae The Gerrhosauridae are a family of lizards native to Africa and Madagascar. They are close relatives of skinks and were once classified in the same family as them. Habitat Also known as plated lizards, species in the family Gerrhosauridae live ...

. In 2011, a study based on the molecular

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or Taxon, taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, M ...

of the family suggested several species traditionally included in ''Cordylus'' should be moved to other genera: ''

Hemicordylus ''Hemicordylus'', the false girdled lizards, is a genus comprising two lizard species endemic to the Cape Fold Belt of southern South Africa. Description Their maximum snout-to-vent length is about 76 mm. They have gracile features, with a ...

'' (for ''capensis'' and ''nebulosus''), ''

Karusasaurus ''Karusasaurus'', commonly known as Karusa lizards, is a genus of lizards in the family Cordylidae. Its species were previously considered to be included in the genus ''Cordylus'', but more recent studies have shown that they are distinct enough ...

'' (for ''jordani'' and ''polyzonus''), '' Namazonurus'' (for ''campbelli'', ''lawrenci'', ''namaquensis'', ''peersi'' and ''pustulatus''), ''

Ninurta Ninurta (: , possible meaning "Lord fBarley"), also known as Ninĝirsu (: , meaning "Lord fGirsu"), is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with farming, healing, hunting, law, scribes, and war who was f ...

'' (for ''coeruleopunctatus''), '' Ouroborus'' (for ''cataphractus'') and ''

Smaug Smaug () is a dragon and the main antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel ''The Hobbit'', his treasure and the mountain he lives in being the goal of the quest. Powerful and fearsome, he invaded the Dwarf kingdom of Erebor 171 years prio ...

'' (for ''breyeri'', ''giganteus'', ''mossambicus'', ''regius'', ''vandami'' and ''warreni''). This classification is supported by the ''

Reptile Database The Reptile Database is a scientific database that collects taxonomic information on all living reptile species (i.e. no fossil species such as dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared ...

'' where 21 species remain in ''Cordylus''. Uetz, Peter et al. (2014). www.reptile-database.org. Genus'' Cordylus'' (''

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...

''): *Angolan girdled lizard, ''

Cordylus angolensis The Angolan girdled lizard (''Cordylus angolensis''), also known as the Angolan spiny-tailed lizard, is a species of lizard in the genus ''Cordylus''. The species is endemic to Angola, as its names testify, and is ovoviviparous. Reproduction ''C. ...

'' *Maasai girdled lizard, '' Cordylus beraduccii'' *Cape girdled lizard, ''

Cordylus cordylus ''Cordylus cordylus'', the Cape girdled lizard, is a medium-sized lizard indigenous to the southern Cape region of South Africa, where it inhabits crags, rocky outcrops and mountain summits. They evade predators by wedging themselves firmly in r ...

'' *Rooiberg girdled lizard, ''

Cordylus imkeae The Rooiberg girdled lizard (''Cordylus imkeae'') is a species of small, spiny lizard in the Family (biology), family Cordylidae. The species is Endemism, endemic to South Africa. Etymology The Specific name (zoology), specific name, ''imkeae'', ...

'' *Limpopo girdled lizard, ''

Cordylus jonesii The Limpopo girdled lizard (''Cordylus jonesii)'', also known commonly as Jones's armadillo lizard and Jones's girdled lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Cordylidae. The species is indigenous to Southern Africa. Etymology The specific ...

'' *Machadoe's girdled lizard, ''

Cordylus machadoi Machadoe's girdled lizard (''Cordylus machadoi'') is a flattened girdled lizard from southwestern Angola and northwestern Namibia. They are found as solitary individuals or in pairs on rock outcrops in arid savannah A savanna or savannah i ...

'' *Coastal spiny-tailed lizard, '' Cordylus macropholis'' *Marungu girdled lizard, '' Cordylus marunguensis'' *McLachlan's girdled lizard, '' Cordylus mclachlani'' *Mecula girdled lizard, ''

Cordylus meculae ''Cordylus meculae'', the Mecula girdled lizard, is a third species from the Rhodesian girdled lizard complex, and was described from Mount Mecula in northern Mozambique. It lives in granite outcrops of montane grasslands and dry miombo Miombo ...

'' *Dwarf girdled lizard, ''

Cordylus minor The western dwarf girdled lizard (''Cordylus minor'') is a species of lizard in the family Cordylidae Cordylidae is a family of small- to medium-sized lizards that occur in southern and eastern Africa. They are commonly known as girdled lizar ...

'' *Kaokoveld girdled lizard, ''

Cordylus namakuiyus ''Cordylus namakuiyus'', the Kaokoveld girdled lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Cordylidae. It is a small, spiny lizard found in Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central ...

'' *Black girdled lizard, '' Cordylus niger'' Black girdled lizard 2

*Nyika girdled lizard, '' Cordylus nyikae'' *Oelofsen's girdled lizard, '' Cordylus oelofseni'' *N’Dolondolo girdled lizard, '' Cordylus phonolithos'' *Rhodesian girdled lizard, '' Cordylus rhodesianus'' *Ethiopian girdled lizard, ''

Cordylus rivae ''Cordylus rivae'', the Ethiopian girdled lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Cordylidae. It is a small, spiny lizard found in Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country l ...

'' *East African spiny-tailed lizard, '' Cordylus tropidosternum'' *Ukinga girdled lizard, ''

Cordylus ukingensis The Ukinga girdled lizard (''Cordylus ukingensis'') is a poorly known species of girdled lizard from central Tanzania. They are rupicolous (rock-dwelling) and feed on small arthropods. The dorsal coloration is red-brown with scattered dark mott ...

'' *Transvaal girdled lizard, ''

Cordylus vittifer The Transvaal girdled lizard or Reichenow's spiny-tailed lizard (''Cordylus vittifer'') is a very flattened girdled lizard from northeastern South Africa, Eswatini, and southeastern Botswana. It prefers rock outcrops in open grassland and feeds o ...

'' ''

Nota bene ( ; plural: ) is the Latin language, Latin phrase meaning ''note well''. In manuscripts, ''nota bene'' is abbreviated in upper-case as NB and N.B., and in lower-case as n.b. and nb; the editorial usages of ''nota bene'' and ''notate bene'' fi ...

'': A

binomial authority In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Cordylus''. Formerly assigned in ''Cordylus'' (''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

''): *species in the genus ''

'' *species in the genus ''

'' *species in the genus '' Namazonurus'' *

Blue-spotted girdled lizard ''Ninurta coeruleopunctatus'' (syn. ''Cordylus coeruleopunctatus''), the blue-spotted girdled lizard or simply blue-spotted lizard, is a monotypic genus that is Endemism, endemic to southern, coastal South Africa. The ''Ninurta'' ''coeruleopuncta ...

, ''Ninurta coeruleopunctatus'' * Armadillo girdled lizard, ''Ouroborus cataphractus'' *species in the genus ''

'' *species in the genus ''

References

External links

Tallbo
{{Authority control Lizard genera Taxa named by Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti

Classification

References

Further reading

External links