The armadillo girdled lizard (''Ouroborus cataphractus''), www.reptile-database.org. also commonly known as the armadillo lizard, the armadillo spiny-tailed lizard, and the golden-armadillo lizard, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of lizard in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Cordylidae 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 is closely related to the family Gerrhosauridae ...

. The species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to desert areas along the western coast of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. In 2011, it was moved to its own genus based on molecular

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spe ...

, but formerly it was included in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Cordylus The genus ''Cordylus'' (Sauria: Cordylidae) includes a wide variety of species of small to medium spiny lizards from Africa, collectively called girdle-tailed lizards or girdled lizards. All are diurnal and ovoviviparous (live-bearing, without s ...

''.

Description

The armadillo girdled lizard can be a light brown to dark brown in coloration. The underbelly is yellow with a blackish pattern, especially under the chin. Its size can range from in snout-

vent Vent or vents may refer to: Science and technology Biology *Vent, the cloaca region of an animal * Vent DNA polymerase, a thermostable DNA polymerase Geology *Hydrothermal vent, a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated wate ...

length (SVL). It may grow to a maximum size of SVL."''Cordylus cataphractus'' "
Arkive

Distribution and habitat

''O. cataphractus'' is endemic to the Succulent Karoo biome in the Northern and the Western Cape provinces of South Africa, where it occurs from the southern

Richtersveld The Richtersveld is a desert landscape characterised by rugged kloofs and high mountains, situated in the north-western corner of South Africa’s Northern Cape province. It is full of changing scenery from flat, sandy, coastal plains, to crag ...

to the Piketberg Mountains and the southern Tankwa Karoo. It inhabits rock outcrops and mountain slopes, preferably on sandstone substrate.

Ecology

Diet

The armadillo girdled lizard feeds mainly on small

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s, such as

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s and

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s, but sometimes also may take plant material. In captivity, it is commonly fed crickets. In the wild, its most common prey items are termites, especially '' Microhodotermes viator'' and '' Hodotermes mossambicus''. Individuals in larger social groups tend to eat more termites than those in smaller groups

Behavior

The armadillo girdled lizard is diurnal. It hides in rock cracks and crevices. It lives in social groups of up to 30 to 60 individuals of all ages, but usually fewer. Males are

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

, protecting a territory and mating with the females living there. Ouroborus cataphractus01

The armadillo girdled lizard possesses an uncommon

antipredator adaptation Anti-predator adaptations are mechanisms developed through evolution that assist prey organisms in their constant struggle against predators. Throughout the animal kingdom, adaptations have evolved for every stage of this struggle, namely by avo ...

, in which it rolls into a ball and takes its tail in its mouth when frightened. In this shape, it is protected from

predators Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

by the thick, squarish scales along its back and the spines on its tail. This behavior, which resembles that of the mythical

ouroboros The ouroboros or uroboros () is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. The ouroboros entered Western tradition via ancient Egyptian iconography and the Greek magical tradition. It was adopted as a symbol in Gnost ...

and of the mammalian armadillo, gives it its taxonomic and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

common names.

Reproduction

The female armadillo girdled lizard gives birth to one or two"''Cordylus cataphracus'' "
Animal Diversity Web
/ref> live young; the species is one of the few lizards that does not lay eggs. The female may even feed her young, which is also unusual for a lizard. Females give birth once a year at most; some take a year off between births. One hundred and six individuals from 27 groups were marked and recaptured regularly from May until September 2002. The group that was greater in fidelity had a greater neighboring distance. While the group that was less in fidelity had a less neighboring distance. The neighboring distance correlates to the fidelity of the armadillo girdled lizard species.Flemming, A. F.; Costandius, E.; Mouton, P.L.N. (2006). "The effect of intergroup distance on group fidelity in the group-living Lizard, ''Cordylus cataphractus''. ''African Journal of Herpetology'' 55 (1): 61-68. 0.1080/21564574.2006.96355/ref>

Conservation

The species ''Ouroborus cataphractus'' is classified by the IUCN as near threatened. This is mostly due to a general cessation of collection for the pet trade, which was a significant drain on populations but is now illegal. The armadillo girdled lizard is thought to be somewhat susceptible to fluctuations in its primary foodsource (termites), which in turn can be impacted by climatic events such as changes in rainfall patterns, as well as to habitat changes through invasive alien plant species and poor fire management.

References

External links

''"Early German Herpetological Observations"'' - Bauer (2003)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q777490 Cordylidae Endemic reptiles of South Africa Rolling animals Fauna of South Africa Endemic fauna of South Africa Reptiles described in 1828 Taxa named by Friedrich Boie