Pseudocordylus melanotus

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.[1][2] Pseudocordylus subviridis is considered a distinct species by the Reptile Database,[2] but a subspecies of Pseudocordylus melanotus by IUCN.[1]

Pseudocordylus melanotus
P. melanotus in the Magaliesberg
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Cordylidae
Genus: Pseudocordylus
Species:
P. melanotus
Binomial name
Pseudocordylus melanotus
(A. Smith, 1838)
Synonyms
  • Cordylus melanotus Smith, 1838
  • Pseudocordylus microlepidotus melanotus – Loveridge, 1944
  • Pseudocordylus melanotus melanotus – De Waal, 1978
  • Pseudocordylus melanotus melanotus – Visser, 1984
  • Cordylus melanotus – Frost et al., 2001
  • Pseudocordylus melanotus – Stanley et al., 2011

Pseudocordylus melanotus an ovoviviparous lizard, tolerant of temperatures no lower than –5 °C,[3][4] 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[5] with an isolated population at Suikerbosrand,[6] and also at the Magaliesberg which geologically is part of the Transvaal Drakensberg.[7][8] 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.[9]

References
  1. Bates, M.F. (2018). "Pseudocordylus melanotus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T110166700A115678379. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T110166700A115678379.en. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  2. Pseudocordylus melanotus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 22 May 2021.
  3. McConnachie, S.; Alexander, G.J.; Whiting, M.J. (2007). "Lower temperature tolerance in the temperate, ambush foraging lizard Pseudocordylus melanotus melanotus". Journal of Thermal Biology. 32 (2): 66–71. doi:10.1016/j.jtherbio.2006.10.002.
  4. 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. hdl:10539/1491.
  5. "Common Crag Lizard". Eswatini's Reptiles Database. Eswatini National Trust Commission. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  6. McConnachie, Suzanne (2014). "The effects of temperature on oxygen consumption in the lizard Pseudocordylus melanotus from Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve". African Journal of Herpetology. 63 (1): 57–69. doi:10.1080/21564574.2014.892901. S2CID 85942614.
  7. Bates, Michael Francis (April 2007). An analysis of the Pseudocordylus melanotus complex (Sauria: Cordylidae) (Doctoral dissertation). Stellenbosch University. hdl:10019.1/21451.
  8. Ed Stanley. "Pseudocordylus Smith 1838".
  9. Broadley, D. G. (2006). "CITES Standard reference for the species of Cordylus (Cordylidae, Reptilia) prepared at the request of the CITES Nomenclature Committee" (PDF). CITES.
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