Hemicordylus capensis (SMITH, 1838)

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Higher Taxa	Cordylidae (Cordylinae), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Cape Cliff Lizard, Graceful Crag Lizard
Synonym	Cordylus (Hemicordylus) capensis SMITH 1838 Zonurus capensis — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 360 Zonurus capensis — BOULENGER 1885: 258 Zonurus robertsi VAN DAM 1921: 241 Cordylus capensis capensis — FITZSIMONS 1943 Cordylus capensis robertsi FITZSIMONS 1943 Pseudocordylus robertsi — LOVERIDGE 1944 Pseudocordylus capensis — HERSELMAN, MOUTON & VAN WYK 1992 Pseudocordylus capensis — BRANCH 1993 Cordylus capensis — FROST et al. 2001 Pseudocordylus capensis — BRANCH & BAUER 2005 Pseudocordylus capensis — RENSBURG et al. 2009 Hemicordylus capensis — STANLEY et al. 2011
Distribution	Republic of South Africa (Western Cape Province; isolated populations from Cedarberg in the north, through Cape fold mountains to Kamanassieberg) Type locality: South Africa [= Hottentots Holland Mountains]. Type locality: Klaver, Van Rhynsdorp District, South Africa [robertsi].
Reproduction	Ovoviviparous/Viviparous, giving birth to 1–3 young.
Types	Holotype: BMNH (presumed, status unclear fide P. Campbell, pers. comm., March 2019).
Diagnosis	Additional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (447 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details.
Comment	Subspecies: Herselman et al. (1992) proposed to give up subspecies of P. capensis due to a continuum of variation. Type species: Cordylus (Hemicordylus) capensis SMITH 1838 is the type species of the genus Hemicrodulus SMITH 1838. Genome: Leitão et al. 2023.
Etymology	Named after the type locality.
References	Bates, M.F.; Branch, W.R., Bauer, A.M.; Burger, M., Marais, J.; Alexander, G.J. & de Villliers, M.S. (eds.) 2014. Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland. Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, 512 pp. Boulenger, G.A. 1885. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 2, Second edition. London, xiii+497 pp. - get paper here Branch, William R. 1993. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 144 S. Branch, William R. & Branch, M. S. 1992. Geographical Distribution. Sauria: Cordylidae: Pseudocordylus capensis (A. Smith, 1838). Journal of the Herpetological Association of Africa, 41: 36. - get paper here Dam, G.P.F. van 1921. Descriptions of new species of Zonurus, and notes on the species of Zonurus occurring in the Transvaal. Annals Transvaal Mus. 7 (4): 239-243 - get paper here Frost, D.; Janies, D.; Le Fras N. Mouton, P. & Titus, T. 2003. A molecular perspective on the phylogeny of the Girdled Lizards (Cordylidae, Squamata). American Museum Novitates (3310): 1-10 - get paper here Herselman,Y.M., Mouton,P. le F.N. & Van Wyk,J.H. 1992. The status of the races of the graceful crag lizard, Pseudocordylus capensis, from South Africa. Amphibia-Reptilia 13: 109-119 - get paper here Leitão, H. G., Diedericks, G., Broeckhoven, C., Baeckens, S., & Svardal, H. 2023. Chromosome-level genome assembly of the Cape cliff lizard (Hemicordylus capensis). Genome Biology and Evolution - get paper here Reissig, J. 2014. Girdled Lizards and Their Relatives. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, ISBN-10: 3899734378 Rensburg, D.A. Janse van; Mouton, P. le F.N. & Niekerk, A. van 2009. Why cordylid lizards are black at the south-western tip of Africa. Journal of Zoology 278: 333–341 - get paper here Smith, A. 1838. Contributions to South African zoology. Art. VI. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (1) 2: 30-33 - get paper here Stanley, Edward L.; Aaron M. Bauer; Todd R. Jackman, William R. Branch, P. Le Fras N. Mouton 2011. Between a rock and a hard polytomy: rapid radiation in the rupicolous girdled lizard (Squamata: Cordylidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 58(1): 53-70. - get paper here Villiers, André de, P. le Fras N. Mouton and Alexander Flemming. 2015. Generation glands of cordylid lizards: mechanism of secretion transfer to the environment. Amphibia-Reptilia 36 (4): 351-360 - get paper here Wyk, J. H. van, Mouton, P. le F. N. 1998. Reproduction and sexual dimorphism in the montane viviparous lizard, Pseudocordylus capensis (Sauria: Cordylidae). South African J Zoology, 33 (3): 156-165 - get paper here
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information Google images

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