Cape Girdled Lizard

Fascinating facts about the Cape Girdled Lizard

• When a predator approaches, this lizard inflates its lungs and wedges its spiny tail over its face, turning a narrow rock crack into a living bolt-lock that predators can’t pry open.
• They live in large colonies with social hierarchies on crags, rocky outcrops and mountain summits.
• A golden-brown body with spiny, keeled scales, especially on the tail, covers it.
• They feed on insects, which are caught by rushing and pouncing.
• In autumn, females give birth to one or two young, which stay very near the mother for the first year.

At a glance

About the Cape Girdled Lizard

The Cape girdled lizard, Cordylus cordylus, is a medium-sized reptile with a golden-brown body and spiny, keeled scales, especially on its tail. It lives on crags, rocky outcrops and mountain summits across the Western and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa, from Saldanha and Cape Town eastward into Lesotho. By wedging itself into narrow fissures and inflating its lungs, it locks its body in place, with its tail curled protectively over its face, making it difficult for predators to extract. These lizards form large, socially structured colonies and can often be seen sunbathing on prominent rocks in the morning and evening. In the autumn, females give birth to one or two young, which stay near the mother for the first year.

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