Giant Girdled Lizard

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Cordylidae
Genus:	Cordylus
Species:	C. The conservation status of a Species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species remaining extant either in the present day or the near future A vulnerable species is a Species which is likely to become endangered unless the circumstances threatening its survival and reproduction improve Chordates ( Phylum Chordata) are a group of Animals that includes the Vertebrates together with several closely related Invertebrates Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia are air-breathing Cold-blooded Vertebrates that have skin covered in scales as opposed to hair or feathers Squamata (scaled reptiles is the largest recent order of Reptiles including Lizards and Snakes Members of the order are distinguished by Cordylidae is a family of mid-sized lizards that inhabit arid and semi-arid regions in Madagascar and eastern Africa. The genus Cordylus (Sauria Cordylidae includes a wide variety of small to medium sized spiny lizards from Africa collectively called girdle-tailed or girdled lizards giganteus

Binomial name

Cordylus giganteus
Smith, 1844

Cordylus giganteus, the Sungazer, Giant Spiny-tailed Lizard, Giant Zonure, or Giant Girdled Lizard is the largest species of Girdled Lizard. Dr Sir Andrew Smith KCB ( December 3, 1797 &ndash August 12, 1872) was a Scottish surgeon, naturalist explorer They live in colonies and dig burrows into the silty soil of the Themeda grassland in South Africa. Themeda is a genus of plants of the family Poaceae. Selected species Themeda anathera The name Sungazer comes from their habit of sitting at the burrow entrance and facing the sun. They are insectivores, but occasionally will eat small vertebrates. Sungazers reproduce every other year, and only produce one or two offspring. The decline in numbers is a result of habitat destruction (conversion of the grassland to farmland) and illegal collecting for the pet trade.

Sungazers are protected by spiny dorsal scales and large spines run along the back of the head. The tail is armed by whorls of large spines and is waved at predators that pursue it into a burrow. Adults are 150-180 mm from the snout to the vent. The back is yellow to dark brown and the sides are yellow. Males can be identified by the presence of enlarged scales on the forearm.

Captive bred Sungazers, usually juveniles, are occasionally imported from South Africa to the U. S. and command a very high price. They are long-lived, hardy captives, but rarely reproduce in captivity. Cordylus tropidosternum and Cordylus jonesii are occasionally marketed as “Dwarf Sungazers. common namedwarf sungazer The East African Spiny-tailed Lizard ( Cordylus tropidosternum) also known as the Tropical Girdled Lizard, is an arboreal or rupicolous Limpopo Girdled Lizards ( Cordylus jonesii) live along South Africa ’s border with Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. ”

Captve Care

Fogel, G. , 2000. Observations on the Giant Sungazer Lizard, Cordylus giganteus, in captivity: Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society, 35(12): 277-280. [1]

Three Giant Girdled Lizards in Zoo "Tierpark Hagenbeck" in Hamburg, Germany

References

World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1996. Cordylus giganteus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 28 July 2007.

Branch, B. , 1998. Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa: Ralph Curtis Books Publishing, Sanibel Island, Florida, 399 p.

Fitzsimons, V. F. , 1943. The Lizards of South Africa: Transvaal Museum Memoir, Pretoria.