The Soutpansberg rock lizard (''Vhembelacerta rupicola'') is a small (40–50 mm) flattened species of

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

Lacertidae The Lacertidae are the family (biology), family of the wall lizards, true lizards, or sometimes simply lacertas, which are native to Afro-Eurasia. It is a diverse family with at least 300 species in 39 genera. They represent the dominant group o ...

. It has been described as a diurnal, rock-dwelling species inhabiting scree and rocky outcrops at altitudes from 900 to 1600 m. It 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 elsew ...

to the

Limpopo Province Limpopo is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while th ...

in the north of

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 ...

. It is an active forager on the southern slopes of the

Soutpansberg The Soutpansberg, (formerly ''Zoutpansberg'') meaning "Salt Pan Mountain" in Afrikaans, is a Mountain range, range of mountains in far northern South Africa. It is located in Vhembe District Municipality, Vhembe District, Limpopo. It is named for ...

hills.

Etymology

The species name “rupicola” means rock-inhabiting as this lizard is quite strictly saxicolous when compared to other species in the area like ''

Trachylepis varia The eastern variable skink (''Trachylepis varia'') is a species of skink Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic g ...

''. The first part of the genus name "Vhembe-" refers to the

Vhembe Vhembe is one of the 5 districts of Limpopo province of South Africa. It is the northernmost district of the country and shares its northern border with Beitbridge district in Zimbabwe and on the east with Gaza Province in Mozambique. Vhembe cons ...

region of

where the species is endemic. The second part of the name, "lacerta", refers to the Latin name for lizard, it also retains the historical link to the genus

Lacerta Lacerta is one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union. Its name is Latin for lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except ...

to which the species was originally described.

References

Lacertidae Endemic reptiles of South Africa Taxa named by Vivian Frederick Maynard FitzSimons Reptiles described in 1933 Lacertid lizards of Africa Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{lacertidae-stub