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." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007."Cordylidae." Bill Branch. 1998. Field Guide to Snakes and other reptiles of Southern Africa. Struik Publishers, Cape Town.
Cordylidae is closely related to the family Gerrhosauridae, occurring in Africa and Madagascar. These two scientific families of lizards, known as Cordyliformes or Cordyloidea, are sometimes combined into a larger concept of Cordylidae. Recent molecular analyses confirm the clade made up of Cordylidae and Gerrhosauridae (Cordyloidea) and place it in a larger clade including Xantusiidae (Cordylomorpha Vidal & Hedges, 2009).Nicolas Vidal; S. Blair Hedges The molecular evolutionary tree of lizards, snakes, and amphisbaenians
Description and behavior
Girdled lizards are diurnal and insectivorous. They are terrestrial, mostly inhabiting crevices in rocky terrain, although at least one species digs burrows and another lives under exfoliating bark on trees. They have flattened heads and bodies, and are distinguished by a heavy armour of osteoderms and large, rectangular, scales, arranged in regular rows around the body and tail. Many species have rings of spines on the tail, that aid in wedging the animal into sheltering crevices, and also in dissuading predators.
Most species have four limbs, but those in the genus Chamaesaura are almost entirely limbless, with only tiny spikes in place of the hind limbs. The family includes both egg-laying and ovoviviparous species.
Genera +List of genera Genus Image Type species Taxon author Common name Species Chamaesaura C. anguina C. anguina Schneider, 1801 Grass lizards 5 Cordylus C. niger C. cordylus Laurenti, 1768 Girdled lizards 21 Hemicordylus H. capensis H. capensis Smith, 1838 Cliff lizards 2 Karusasaurus K. polyzonus K. polyzonus Stanley, Bauer, Jackman, Branch & Mouton, 2011 Karusa lizards 2 Namazonurus N. peersi N. pustulatus Stanley, Bauer, Jackman, Branch & Mouton, 2011 Namaqua girdled lizards 5 Ninurta N. coeruleopunctatus N. coeruleopunctatus Stanley, Bauer, Jackman, Branch & Mouton, 2011 Blue-spotted girdled lizard 1 Ouroborus O. cataphractus O. cataphractus Stanley, Bauer, Jackman, Branch & Mouton, 2011 Armadillo girdled lizard 1 Platysaurus P. relictus P. capensis Smith, 1844 Flat lizards 16 Pseudocordylus P. subviridis P. microlepidotus Smith, 1838 Crag lizards 6 Smaug S. giganteus S. giganteus Stanley, Bauer, Jackman, Branch & Mouton, 2011 Girdled lizards 9
References
External links Cordylidae