Photo safari – black girdled lizard | Not Exactly Rocket Science

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I'm guessing that the black colour helps the lizard to absorb the sun's heat more effectively. There appears to be some confusion among photographers as to whether this species is the Cape girdled lizard (<em>Cordylus cordylus</em>) or the black one (<em>Cordylus niger</em>) - I'm going with the latter. <br />

There are at least 47 species of girdled lizards (belonging to the genus <em>Cordylus</em>), and most are characterised by the bony spiky scales that you can see here.

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