Smaug vandami

Van Dam's girdled lizard
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Reptilia
Order:Squamata
Family:Cordylidae
Genus:Smaug
Species: S. vandami
Binomial name
Smaug vandami
(FitzSimons, 1930)
Synonyms
  • Zonurus vandami FitzSimons, 1930
  • Cordylus warreni vandami
  • Cordylus vandami

Van Dam's girdled lizard (Smaug vandami) is a species of sungazers that are endemic[2] to Limpopo near Gravelotte, South Africa.

This large lizard (SVL 145 mm)[3] has a triangular shaped head with spiny dorsal scales. They are largely solitary and hide in cracks in the rocks.

Other names

The species is named from collector of the type specimens, Gerhardus Petrus Frederick Van Dam[4][5] (d. 1927), a South African herpetologist.

Other common names include the Afrikaans name "ouvolk"[6] - meaning old folk.

Description

The predominant colour is dark brown with fragmented yellow rings.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Mouton, P.L.F.N. (2017). "Smaug vandami". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2017: e.T110167848A110313918. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  2. ↑ "Living National Treasures". Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  3. ↑ Branch, William R. (1996). Field Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Struik. pp. Plate 70.
  4. ↑ "The Reptile Database". Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  5. ↑ "Van Dam, Mr Gerhardus Petrus Frederik (zoology, plant collection)". Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  6. ↑ Ed Stanley. "Smaug Stanley et al. 2011". Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  7. ↑ Bader, Kenneth. "Van Dam's Girdled Lizard". Website on girdled lizards kept in captivity
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