Cordylus niger
Species of lizard
| Black girdled lizard | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A black girdled lizard on Table Mountain (with a millipede on its nose) | |
Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Cordylidae |
| Genus: | Cordylus |
| Species: | C. niger |
| Binomial name | |
| Cordylus niger Smith, 1844 | |
Cordylus niger, the black girdled lizard, is a medium-sized lizard restricted to Table Mountain on the Cape Peninsula and a second, isolated population near Langebaan.
Black girdled lizards inhabit rocky outcrops on Table Mountain, South Africa. Unlike many other lizard species in the area, these particular Cordylus lizards are not social and are usually seen alone. They are spiny, flat, and pitch black in colour.
Their colour helps these unique lizards to absorb sufficient heat from the sun, in what is one of the darkest, least sunny parts of South Africa. [2]
Gallery
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Black girdled lizard, Cape of Good Hope -
Close up of the head of a black girdled lizard -
Black girdled lizard on a rock, Table Mountain.
References
Further reading
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cordylus niger.
- 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.
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Extant Cordylidae species
- Transvaal grass lizard (C. aenea)
- Cape grass lizard (C. anguina)
- Large-scale grass lizard (C. macrolepis)
- Zambian grass lizard (C. miopropus)
- Cape snake lizard (C. tenuior)
- Angolan girdled lizard (C. angolensis)
- Maasai girdled lizard (C. beraduccii)
- Cape girdled lizard (C. cordylus)
- Rooiberg girdled lizard (C. imkeae)
- Limpopo girdled lizard (C. jonesii)
- Machado's girdled lizard (C. machadoi)
- Coastal spiny-tailed lizard (C. macropholis)
- Marungu girdled lizard (C. marunguensis)
- McLachlan's girdled lizard (C. mclachlani)
- Mecula girdled lizard (C. meculae)
- Western dwarf girdled lizard (C. minor)
- Kaokoveld girdled lizard (C. namakuiyus)
- Black girdled lizard (C. niger)
- Nyika girdled lizard (C. nyikae)
- Oelofsen's girdled lizard (C. oelofseni)
- N’Dolondolo girdled lizard (C. phonolithos)
- Rhodesian girdled lizard (C. rhodesianus)
- Ethiopian girdled lizard (C. rivae)
- East African spiny-tailed lizard (C. tropidosternum)
- Ukinga girdled lizard (C. ukingensis)
- Transvaal girdled lizard (C. vittifer)
- Cape cliff lizard (H. capensis)
- Dwarf cliff lizard (H. nebulosus)
- Jordan's girdled lizard (K. jordani)
- African spiny-tailed lizard (K. polyzonus)
- Campbell's girdled lizard (N. campbelli)
- Lawrence's girdled lizard (N. lawrenci)
- Namaqua girdled lizard (N. namaquensis)
- Peers’s girdled lizard (N. peersi)
- Herero girdled lizard (N. pustulatus)
- Blue-spotted girdled lizard (N. coeruleopunctatus)
- Armadillo girdled lizard (O. cataphractus)
- Attenborough's flat lizard (P. attenboroughi)
- Broadley's flat lizard (P. broadleyi)
- Cape flat lizard (P. capensis)
- Dwarf flat lizard (P. guttatus)
- Emperor flat lizard (P. imperator)
- Common flat lizard (P. intermedius)
- Lebombo flat lizard (P. lebomboensis)
- Spotted flat lizard (P. maculatus)
- Waterberg flat lizard (P. minor)
- Mitchell's flat lizard (P. mitchelli)
- Orange-throated flat lizard (P. monotropis)
- Ocellated flat lizard (P. ocellatus)
- Sekukhune flat lizard (P. orientalis)
- Pungwe flat lizard (P. pungweensis)
- Soutpansberg flat lizard (P. relictus)
- Striped flat lizard (P. torquatus)
- Lang's crag lizard (P. langi)
- Highveld crag lizard (P. melanotus)
- Cape crag lizard (P. microlepidotus)
- Spiny crag lizard (P. spinosus)
- Drakensberg crag lizard (P. subviridis)
- Northern crag lizard (P. transvaalensis)
- Barberton girdled lizard (S. barbertonensis)
- Waterberg girdled lizard (S. breyeri)
- Zoutpansberg girdled lizard (S. depressus)
- Giant girdled lizard (S. giganteus)
- Mozambique girdled lizard (S. mossambicus)
- Regal girdled lizard (S. regius)
- Swazi dragon lizard (S. swazicus)
- Van Dam's girdled lizard (S. vandami)
- Warren's girdled lizard (S. warreni)
