The Lebombo flat lizard (''Platysaurus lebomboensis'') 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 ...

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

in the family

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 ...

Geography

The Lebombo flat lizard lives in southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, including

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

, and

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

, a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

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

. This area includes Middle Lebombo Range. The habitat of this small lizard include

grasslands A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natural ...

and thickets.

Description

Lebombo flat lizards are closely related to a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of ''

Platysaurus intermedius The common flat lizard (''Platysaurus intermedius'') is a species of lizard in the Cordylidae family. This lizard has 9 subspecies, all living in southern Africa. Description The females and juveniles of all subspecies of ''P. intermedius'' hav ...

'', ''P. i. wilhelmi''. Females, males, and juveniles of the Lebombo flat lizard are black-brown-gray, with blue bellies and white spots and stripes on their backs.

References

External links

More Information
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3021785 Platysaurus Reptiles of Eswatini Reptiles described in 1994 Lizards of Africa Reptiles of South Africa Taxa named by Neils Henning Gunther Jacobsen