Crag lizards facts for kids

Pseudocordylus is a group of fascinating lizards. They are often called crag lizards because they love living among rocks and cliffs. These lizards are found in South Africa. They can be small or quite large.

Crag lizards belong to a family called girdled lizards. What makes Pseudocordylus special? They have tiny, granular scales on their backs. This is different from other girdled lizards, like those in the Cordylus genus. Those lizards have bony plates called osteoderms under their scales.

Quick facts for kids Crag lizards
P. melanotus in western Eswatini
Scientific classification
Unrecognized taxon (fix):	Pseudocordylus

Meet the Crag Lizard Species

There are six known types, or species, of Pseudocordylus crag lizards. Each one has its own unique features! Scientists give them special names. These names help us identify them.

Exploring Different Crag Lizards

Here are the six recognized species:

• Pseudocordylus langi – This is Lang's crag lizard. It was first described by Arthur Loveridge in 1944.
• Pseudocordylus melanotus – Known as the common crag lizard. A. Smith first described it in 1838.
• Pseudocordylus microlepidotus – This is the Cape crag lizard. Georges Cuvier described it in 1829.
• Pseudocordylus spinosus – Meet the spiny crag lizard! V. FitzSimons described it in 1947.
• Pseudocordylus subviridis – This is the Drakensberg crag lizard. A. Smith also described this one in 1838.
• Pseudocordylus transvaalensis – The northern crag lizard was described by V. FitzSimons in 1943.

Understanding Scientific Names

You might notice some names have a person's name in parentheses. For example, (A. Smith, 1838). This means the species was first described under a different scientific group, or genus. Later, scientists moved it to the Pseudocordylus genus. This is part of how scientists organize living things!