The Transvaal girdled lizard or Reichenow's spiny-tailed lizard (''Cordylus vittifer'') is a very flattened girdled lizard from northeastern

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 ...

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 ...

, and southeastern

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

. It prefers rock outcrops in open

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), 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 Herbaceo ...

and feeds on small

arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

s, especially

beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

Description

This species grows to about 95 mm long from snout to vent. Femoral pores are absent from females in some populations. Transvaal girdled lizards are distinguished from most other girdled lizards by elongation of the first row of dorsal scales directly behind the head. These scales are approximately twice the length from base to tip than the following dorsal scales on the neck. The dorsal coloration is variable—uniform straw brown to dark brown or with irregular dark spots and orange-yellow flanks. A pale stripe often runs down the middle of the back. A population in the northeastern Free State, South Africa has distinct dark lateral stripes and may represent a distinct species.

Relationships

The Transvaal girdled lizard is closely related to Machadoe's girdled lizard (''Cordylus machadoi'') from northwestern

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. Both species have an elongate first row of dorsal scales. Machadoe's girdled lizard is uniform yellow brown above and paler below. The head is dark brown with pale lips. The pale vertebral stripe found in the Transvaal girdled lizard is not present.

Pet trade

Falling prey to a sand snake Specimens labeled as Transvaal girdled lizards are exported from

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 ...

. Most individuals are not ''C. vittifer'', but in fact Limpopo girdled lizards (''Cordylus jonesii''). The Limpopo girdled lizard can be quickly distinguished from ''C. vittifer'' by its rounded, not flattened, body. The Limpopo girdled lizard also lacks the elongate first row of dorsal scales.

References

* Branch, B., 1998. Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa: Ralph Curtis Books Publishing, Sanibel Island, Florida, 399 pp. * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2997201 Cordylus Lizards of Africa Reptiles of Botswana Reptiles of Eswatini Reptiles of South Africa Reptiles described in 1887 Taxa named by Anton Reichenow