Giant girdled lizard

Sungazer
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Cordylidae
Genus: Smaug
Species:
S. giganteus
Binomial name
Smaug giganteus
(Smith, 1844)
Giant dragon lizard IUCN range (2021) in the Highveld
Synonyms
  • Cordylus giganteus Smith 1844
  • Zonurus giganteus Boulenger 1885
Two giant girdled lizards at the Frankfurt Zoo
Three giant girdled lizards in Tierpark Hagenbeck
A pair of giant girdled lizards
Giant girdled lizard specimen, purchased in 1906 by National Museum of Ireland - Natural History
Giant girdled lizard at the San Diego Zoo
Giant girdled lizard at the San Diego Zoo

The sungazer (Smaug giganteus, syn. Cordylus giganteus), also known as the giant girdled lizard, giant dragon lizard, ouvolk, or giant zonure, is the largest species of the Cordylidae, a family of lizards from Sub-Saharan Africa. This threatened species is endemic to Highveld grasslands in the interior of South Africa. In 2011, it was assigned to the new genus Smaug, along with seven other species previously belonging to the genus Cordylus, based on a comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the Cordylidae.

Appearance

The sungazer is a heavily armoured species, with a typical snout–to-vent length of 15–18 cm (5.9–7.1 in) (exceptionally up to 20.5 cm or 8.1 in), and is easily distinguishable from other cordylids by the elongated pair of occipital spines and the enlarged keeled caudal spines.

Names

The species is known as the sungazer because of its distinctive thermoregulatory behaviour of elevating the anterior parts of the body by extending its fore limbs, usually near the entrance of its burrow as if looking at the sun. The species is well known throughout its distribution, and is called by several different common names, in different languages. The most common local name is ouvolk, given by Afrikaans landowners who liken the thermoregulatory basking position of the species to retired farmworkers, who spend much of their days sitting in the sunlight. The sungazer is also known ubiquitously as Pathakalle by Sotho-speaking people and mbedla by Zulu-speaking people.

Behaviour

Unlike most other rupicolous (living among rocks) members of the Cordylidae, sungazers live in self-excavated burrows (typically 0.4 m or 1.3 ft deep, and 1.8 m or 6 ft long) in the silty soil of the Themeda grassland in South Africa. They are insectivores, but occasionally eat small vertebrates. These colonial, ovoviviparous lizards reproduce every 2–3 years, and only produce one or two offspring per breeding cycle. They are long-lived, and captives have been recorded surpassing 20 years of age.

Reproduction

Sungazers are ovoviviparous; embryos develop within eggs, but the eggs are retained by the female until they are ready to hatch. Some females skip breeding seasons depending on their physical condition and environmental factors; as a result, sungazers typically reproduce biennally (every two years). Fecundity is low in C. giganteus, and clutch sizes are limited to one or two individuals.

C. giganteus offspring shelter communally in the same burrow as their mother, which is thought to boost survival by offering extra protection from predators and adverse environmental conditions.

Conservation

The decline in sungazer numbers is a result of habitat destruction, and illegal collecting for the pet and traditional medicine trades. Entire colonies can disappear when a patch of native grassland is converted to farmland or otherwise "developed".

Giant girdled lizard burrow, Petrus Steyn, Free State.

Sungazers are very difficult to breed in captivity, and successes have only been reported by a few places worldwide. At least some reports are likely not true captive breeding, but rather pregnant females being caught in the wild and subsequently giving birth in captivity. Wild-caught sungazers are then imported from South Africa to the US, Europe, and Japan, where they command high prices. Most of these animals are smuggled out of the country and are not accompanied by the CITES permits required in legal exports/imports of the species. In its native South Africa, possessing a sungazer (dead or alive) without a permit is illegal. Cordylus tropidosternum and Cordylus jonesii are occasionally marketed as "dwarf sungazers".

Cultural references

References

  1. ↑ Alexander, G.J.; Tolley, K.A.; Bates, M.F.; Mouton, P.L.F.N. (2022). "Smaug giganteus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022 e.T5336A197397987. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T5336A197397987.en. Retrieved 11 April 2025.
  2. ↑ "The "ouvolk". An endangered species".
  3. ↑ Mouton, P.le.F.N. (2014). "Smaug giganteus (Smith, 1844)". In Bates, M.F.; Branch, W.R.; Bauer, A.M.; Burger, M.; Marais, J.; Alexander, G.J.; De Villiers, M.S. (eds.). Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. p. 209.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bill Branch (1998). Field Guide to Snakes and other reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers. p. 189. ISBN 1-86872-040-3.
  5. ↑ Stanley, Edward L.; Bauer, Aaron M.; Jackman, Todd R.; Branch, William R.; Mouton, P. Le Fras N. (2011). "Between a rock and a hard polytomy: Rapid radiation in the rupicolous girdled lizards (Squamata: Cordylidae)" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 58 (1): 53–70. Bibcode:2011MolPE..58...53S. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.08.024. PMID 20816817.
  6. ↑ Van Wyk, J.H. (1988). "Sungazer or Giant Girdled Lizard (Cordylus giganteus)". In W.R. Branch (ed.). South African Red Data Book – Reptiles and Amphibians (Report). South African National Scientific Programmes. pp. 78–80. Report No. 151.
  7. ↑ Shivan Parusnath (2014). A conservation assessment of the Sungazer (Smaug giganteus) (Master of Science thesis). University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.
  8. ↑ J.H. Van Wyk (1991). "Biennial reproduction in the female viviparous lizard Cordylus giganteus". Amphibia-Reptilia. 12 (3). Brill: 329–342. doi:10.1163/156853891X00473.
  9. ↑ South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) (2018). "Giant Girdled Lizard: Reproduction and Survival". Cape Town: SANBI Publishing.
  10. 1 2 3 Gibbons, B. (2014). "Sungazer Lizards are desperately in need of conservation" (PDF). Threatened Grassland Species Programme. Endangered Wildlife Trust. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  11. 1 2 Adams, M. (April 2012). "Rare Sungazers pose tough challenge for conservators". National Zoological Gardens of South Africa. Archived from the original on 2015-08-10. Retrieved 12 November 2014.