Vivariums;reptiles;Cordylus mossambicus

3- The Mozambique girdled lizard - Cordylus mossambicus or Smaug mossambicus :

The Mozambique girdled lizard or flame-bellied armadillo lizard (Smaug mossambicus) is a large, flattened, girdled lizard found in the Gorongosa Mountains in Mozambique and low elevations in the Chimanimani Mountains at the border of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It lives in rock outcrops in grasslands and dry, wooded mountain slopes.

The Mozambique girdled lizard is also called the Gorongosa girdled lizard or Cordylus gorongosa (not a valid taxon name). Individuals are exported through Mozambique for the pet trade. They eat a wide variety of small insects (especially beetles and grasshoppers), millipedes, spiders, and occasional small vertebrates.

Mozambique girdled lizard

Male Smaug mossambicus

Scientific classification :

Kingdom:Animalia

Phylum:Chordata

Class:Reptilia

Order:Squamata

Family:Cordylidae

Genus:Smaug

Species:S. mossambicus

Binomial name :

Smaug mossambicus
(Fitzsimons, 1958)

Synonyms :

Cordylus mossambicus Fitzsimons, 1958

Description :

Mozambique girdled lizards reach 137.5 mm from snout to vent and 281 mm in total length (based on a captive individual). Males are dark brown to black above with bright orange undersides and black throats. Females and juveniles are dark brown above with small cream spots scattered on the neck and back. The bellies and sides are gray with orange and black mottles on the lower jaws and throat.

Males are distinguished from the closely related regal girdled lizard (Smaug regius) by the black chin and throat (yellow chin, mottled throat in S. regius) and the presence of a brown patch in front of the cloaca on the belly. Females and juveniles of S. regius and S. mossambicus are nearly identical. In S. regius, their heads are pale brown. Both species were once considered to be subspecies of the Warren’s girdled lizard(Smaug warreni).

Female Smaug mossambicus

For the external links , refrences click here to read the full wikipedia article

Video :

Flame Bellied Girdle Tailed Lizards

Care Articles :

1- Cordylus mossambicus and Cordylus regius

courtesy to : sites.google.com/site/girdledlizard/flame-belliedgirdledlizards

The vast majority of Cordylus species are drab brown with dark brown or black markings that blend in with their rocky habitat. Male Flame-bellied Girdled Lizards are the exception. Adult males are dark black with bright orange bellies. Females are dark brown to black above with small flecks of white or cream around the neck and base of the tail; the bellies are gray to cream in color. Juveniles look like the females but have more cream to yellow stripes and spots.

Distinguishing between Cordylus mossambicus and C. regius (especially the females) is difficult, if not impossible, without first knowing the locality where they were collected key. Therefore, if you would like to start a breeding project with one of these species, it is probably better to buy several pairs from one shipment. At least then you will probably have one species (but no guarantees). One should be able to distinguish the two species using the following information. This information will be updated after I examine preserved specimens in museums and look at more live specimens.

Look at the occipital scales (the 6-8 spikes at the back of the head). In C. mossambicus the outer pair is the longest, in C. regius the peniultimate pair is longer.
Adult male C. mossambicus have black throats and lips, and often have a dark patch in front of the cloaca. Male C. regius have orange throats with dark mottles and (?) orange lips. Some juveniles have a yellow spot on the upper lip in front of the eye. It is possible that the yellow and orange patterns on the lips and throat fade to black as the animal ages, so color may not me a definative feature.
The habit of C. regius growing larger than C. mossambicus (Branch 2004) is based off measurements of the type specimens and cannot be counted on as a distinguishing characteristic.
The characteristic I like to use is the loreal scale, but I also need to make sure that the occipital spike confirm the ID. In C. mossambicus, the loreal scale (directly behind the nasal) completely separates the nasal from the preocular (runs between the loreal and the eye). Note: directly below these scales are the labials (upper lip) and the labial underneath the nasal always has an upward projection that partially separates the nasal from the loreal. In C. regius the loreal only partially separates the preocular from the nasal (there is an anterior projection of the preocular that runs above the loreal and contacts the nasal.

I have one male and female from a single shipment that have both occipital and loreal characteristics for C. mossambicus, their pictures are on this page. I have a juvenile (?) male (bottom picture) that keys to C. regius. Then there is a lone male that has mossambicus loreals and regius occipitals and the orange throat is fading to black. A second juvenile (?) male (at least 3 years old) has the orange throat and lips with yellow on one side of the upper lip, but the loreals and occipitals key to C. mossambicus. Should Cordylus mossambicus and Cordylus regius actually be considered one species with distinct populations on isolated mountain tops?

Flame-bellied Armadillo Lizards are only available as wild caught (WC) individuals. From 2001-2005, they were rarely imported and cost around $65-80 each online. In 2007, larger numbers were imported and the price rose to $200 per pair or higher. Captive bred individuals are extremely rare due to their low reproductive rate.

Most individuals do not tolerate handling and will bite and defecate when caught. They spend most of their time hiding; occasionally they will bask, but they will dive into the nearest hole if a person enters the room. One of my males, Blackbeard (top photo), can be picked up and has never attempted to bite. He can be hand-fed and will remain under the basking lamp when someone enters the room. He has been my only exception.

The middle photo is an adult female. The lower photo is a juvenile (?) male.