Van Dam's girdled lizard explained

Van Dam's girdled lizard (Smaug vandami) is a species of lizard in the family Cordylidae. The species is endemic to South Africa.

Geographic range

The type locality of S. vandami is Gravelotte, Limpopo, South Africa.^[1]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of S. vandami are grassland and savanna.

Description

A large lizard, S. vandami may attain a snout-vent length (SVL) of 14.5cm (05.7inches).^[2] It has a triangular shaped head, and spiny dorsal scales. The predominant colour is dark brown with fragmented yellow rings.^[3]

Behaviour

S. vandami is largely solitary and hides in cracks in rocks.

Reproduction

S. vandami is ovoviviparous. From two to six young are born alive in summer.^[4]

Etymology

The species is named for the collector of the type specimens, Gerhardus Petrus Frederick van Dam (died 1927), who was a South African herpetologist.^{[5] [6] [7]}

Common names

Other common names for S. vandami include the Afrikaans name ouvolk, meaning "old folk".^[8]

Further reading

• FitzSimons V (1930). "Descriptions of New South African Reptilia and Batrachia, with Distribution Records of Allied Species in the Transvaal Museum Collection". Annals of the Transvaal Museum 14 (1): 20–48. (Zonurus vandami, new species, pp. 25–27, Figures 6–7).
• Loveridge A (1944). "Revision of the African Lizards of the Family Cordylidae". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy at Harvard College 95 (1): 1–118. (Cordylus warreni vandami, new combination, pp. 23–24).
• Reissig J (2014). Girdled Lizards and their relatives: Natural History, Captive Care and Breeding. Frankfurt am Main: Edition Chimaira. 249 pp. .
• Stanley EL, Bates MF (2014). "Here be dragons: a phylogenetic and biogeographical study of the Smaug warreni species complex (Squamata: Cordylidae) in southern Africa". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 172 (4): 892–909.
• Stanley EL, Bauer AM, Jackman TR, Branch WR, Mouton PLFN (2011). "Between a rock and a hard polytomy: Rapid radiation in the rupicolous girdled lizards (Squamata: Cordylidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 58 (1): 53–70. (Smaug vandami, new combination).

External links

• Photographs

Notes and References

1. Web site: Living National Treasures. 23 July 2015.
2. Book: Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town. Struik. Branch, William R.. William Roy Branch. 1996. 9781868720408. Plate 70.
3. Web site: Van Dam's Girdled Lizard. Bader. Kenneth. Website on girdled lizards kept in captivity.
4. [William Roy Branch|Branch, Bill]
5. www.reptile-database.org. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
6. Web site: Van Dam, Mr Gerhardus Petrus Frederik (zoology, plant collection). 7 March 2017.
7. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Cordylus vandami, p. 271).
8. Web site: Smaug Stanley et al. 2011. 23 July 2015. Ed Stanley.