Pseudocordylus melanotus explained

Pseudocordylus melanotus, also known as the common crag lizard or Highveld crag lizard, is a species of lizard found in Eswatini, Lesotho, and South Africa. Pseudocordylus subviridis is considered a distinct species by the Reptile Database, but a subspecies of Pseudocordylus melanotus by IUCN.

Pseudocordylus melanotus an ovoviviparous lizard, tolerant of temperatures no lower than –5 °C,^{[1] [2]} and consequently occurring on rocky outcrops, hills and mountains throughout southern Africa. Various subspecies are found in the inland mountains of the Eastern Cape (Amatole–Great Winterberg) and Cape Fold Mountains, the Natal and Transvaal Drakensberg and foothills, Lesotho and Eswatini^[3] with an isolated population at Suikerbosrand,^[4] and also at the Magaliesberg which geologically is part of the Transvaal Drakensberg.^{[5] [6]} The type specimen was collected by the Scots zoologist Andrew Smith in 1838 in the hills between the main branches of the Orange River east of Philippolis, Orange Free State.^[7]

External links

• iSpot records
• List of South African reptiles - Johan Marais
• 10749442 . 20095918 . 1999 . Van Der Wardt . S. T. . Calcium balance in Drakensberg crag lizards (Pseudocordylus melanotus melanotus; Cordylidae) . Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine . 30 . 4 . 541–4 . Kik . M. J. . Klaver . P. S. . Janse . M . Beynen . A. C. .
• 10.2307/1564842 . 1564842 . The Male Reproductive Cycle of the Lizard Pseudocordylus m. melanotus (Sauria: Cordylidae) . Journal of Herpetology . 27 . 4 . 473–8 . 1993 . Flemming . A. F. .

Notes and References

1. 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2006.10.002 . Lower temperature tolerance in the temperate, ambush foraging lizard Pseudocordylus melanotus melanotus . Journal of Thermal Biology . 32 . 2 . 66–71 . 2007 . McConnachie . S. . Alexander . G.J. . Whiting . M.J. .
2. 10539/1491 . McConnachie . Suzanne . October 27, 2006 . An energy budget for the lizard Pseudocordylus melanotus melanotus, an extreme sit-and-wait forager . Doctoral dissertation . University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg .
3. Web site: Common Crag Lizard . Eswatini's Reptiles Database . Eswatini National Trust Commission . 22 February 2022 .
4. 10.1080/21564574.2014.892901 . The effects of temperature on oxygen consumption in the lizard Pseudocordylus melanotus from Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve . African Journal of Herpetology . 63 . 1 . 57–69 . 2014 . McConnachie . Suzanne . 85942614 .
5. 10019.1/21451 . Bates . Michael Francis . April 2007 . An analysis of the Pseudocordylus melanotus complex (Sauria: Cordylidae) . Doctoral dissertation . Stellenbosch University .
6. Web site: Pseudocordylus Smith 1838 . Ed Stanley .
7. Web site: Broadley, D. G. . 2006 . CITES Standard reference for the species of Cordylus (Cordylidae, Reptilia) prepared at the request of the CITES Nomenclature Committee . CITES .