''Karusasaurus polyzonus'', commonly known as the Karoo girdled lizard or the southern karusa lizard, is a species of

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia al ...

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 lizards, spinytail lizards, or girdle-tail lizards. Cordylidae is closely related to the family Gerrhosauridae ...

Etymology

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 ...

'', the genus name, is derived from the Khosian word "Karusa" and the Latinized Greek word " saurus." Karusa translates to "dry" or "barren," and "saurus" translates to "lizard."

Description

The Karoo girdled lizard is a rather large species. Its distance from its snout to its

cloaca In animal anatomy, a cloaca ( ), plural cloacae ( or ), is the posterior orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive, reproductive, and urinary tracts (if present) of many vertebrate animals. All amphibians, reptiles and birds ...

(known as snout-to-vent length) is roughly 120 millimeters, which is nearly 5 inches. It has

osteoderms Osteoderms are bony deposits forming scales, plates, or other structures based in the dermis. Osteoderms are found in many groups of extant and extinct reptiles and amphibians, including lizards, crocodilians, frogs, temnospondyls (extinct ...

distributed throughout its body. It varies greatly in color – specimens range from black, red, to turquoise. Individuals can also be spotted.

Distribution and ecology

The Karoo girdled lizard is a common species, distributed throughout the southern part of Africa. Specifically, it occurs in Southern

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and e ...

, and most of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

. Specimens have also been recorded in other nearby areas, but these have not been confirmed. It covers an area of almost 150,000 square kilometers in total. The Karoo girdled lizard almost always dwells in rocky areas – besides that, their habitat varies somewhat. It occurs at lower elevations – specimens have been found mostly in lowland areas as well as on the lower slopes of mountains. This lizard species is

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

, which means that the eggs the

embryos An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sperm c ...

are in stay inside their mother's body until they are ready to hatch. Its

generation time In population biology and demography, generation time is the average time between two consecutive generations in the lineages of a population. In human populations, generation time typically ranges from 22 to 33 years. Historians sometimes use this ...

is over a year, which is known as semivoltinism. It is diurnal, and is dormant during certain seasons. Like ''

Karusasaurus jordani ''Karusasaurus jordani'', Jordan's girdled lizard or the Namibian girdled lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Cordylidae. It is a small, spiny lizard found in Namibia. Etymology The specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Databa ...

'', it is an

insectivore A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores wer ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3193630 Karusasaurus Lizards of Africa Reptiles described in 1838 Taxa named by Andrew Smith (zoologist)