In South Africa in March into April this year we had a fine day with excellent visibility for a morning trip in the cable car to the top of Table Mountain. It did not take long to spot several Black Girdled Lizards (Cordylus niger) sunning themselves on individual the exposed Table Mountain Sandstone that makes up the surface of the flat summit.
The name C. niger is attributed to Georges Cuvier in 1829, although his paragraph reads as if that name was already in use. On a cold morning on Table Mountain the unremitting blackness of this species would no doubt speed up its warming up in the sun.
The girdled lizards (Cordylidae) occur only in southern and eastern Africa. In the last century girdled lizards were often kept in Britain by amateur herpetologists. In the early decades the Giant or Lord Derby’s Girdled Lizard (Smaug giganteus but formerly Cordylus giganteus) and the Armadillo Girdled Lizard (now Ouroborus cataphractus) were particularly popular not only for their heavy armour and spikes but also because the latter when threatened grasps it tail in its mouth and thus rolls itself into what can only be described as an armoured doughnut or, at more of a stretch, an armadillo.
As well as on Table Mountain and the rest of the Cape Peninsula, there are five isolated populations of the lizard on the coast and an island north of Cape Town.
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| Up on the cable car |
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| The surface of the flat summit |
The common name for most cordylid lizards was for many decades zonure, after the generic name then in use. Why this name was dropped in favour or girdled lizard or girdle-tailed lizard I do not know. I much prefer zonure over a name that implies they wear a corset.
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| The view down the Cape Peninsula |
