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Cordylus tropidosternum (COPE, 1869)

IUCN Red List - Cordylus tropidosternum - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaCordylidae (Cordylinae), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Tropical Girdled Lizard
G: Tropischer Gürtelschweif, Zwerggürtelschweif 
SynonymZonurus tropidosternum COPE 1869: 169
Zonurus tropidosternum — BOULENGER 1885: 254
Zonurus frenatus PFEFFER 1889
Zonurus frenatus — PFEFFER 1893: 73
Zonurus tropidosternum — TORNIER 1897: 31
Zonurus parkeri COTT 1934
Cordylus tropidosternum — FITZSIMONS 1943 Terra typica
Cordylus cordylus tropidosternum — LOVERIDGE 1944
Cordylus tropidosternum tropidosternum — BRANCH 1988
Cordylus tropidosternum tropidosternum — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 19
Cordylus tropidosternum — BROADLEY & BRANCH 2002
Cordylus tropidosternum — STANLEY et al. 2011
Cordylus tropidosternum — SPAWLS et al 2018: 211 
DistributionSE Kenya and Tanzania, west through N Zambia to S Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire: Katanga Province), south through Malawi and Mozambique to NE Zimbabwe, reaching its southern limit on the Save River in Mozambique (fide BROADLEY & BRANCH 2002).

Type locality: see comment.

frenatus: Tanzania; Type locality: Mhonda, Tanzania

parkeri: Mozambique; Type locality: Amatongas, Mozambique  
ReproductionOvoviviparous 
TypesHolotype: MCZ R-5742. 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 127 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentDistribution: see map in GREENBAUM et al. 2012. The type locality give by Cope is “Madagascar”, which is probably in error for Mozambique.

Illustration of Cordylus tropidosternum in Elaphe 12 (1): 62 [2004]. 
EtymologyNamed after its keeled chest (from Greek ”tropis”, the keel of a ship, “tropidos”, and “sternon”, Greek for chest, heart). 
References
  • Auerbach, R.D. 1987. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Botswana. Mokwepa Consultants, Botswana, 295 pp.
  • Bates MF, Lobón-Rovira J, Stanley EL, Branch WR, Vaz Pinto P 2023. A new species of green-eyed Cordylus Laurenti, 1768 from the west-central highlands of Angola, and the rediscovery of Cordylus angolensis (Bocage, 1895) (Squamata: Cordylidae). Vertebrate Zoology 73: 599-646 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G. A. 1891. Description of a new lizard of the genus Zonurus from the Transvaal. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (6) 7: 417 - get paper here
  • 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
  • Boycott, R.C. 1992. An Annotated Checklist of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Swaziland. The Conservation Trust of Swaziland - get paper here
  • Broadley, D. G. & HOWELL, K. M. 1991. A check list of the reptiles of Tanzania, with synoptic keys. Syntarsus 1: 1—70
  • Broadley, D. G. & W. R. Branch 2002. A review of the small east African Cordylus (Sauria: Cordylidae), with the description of a new species. African Journal of Herpetology 51 (1): 9-34 - get paper here
  • Broadley, D.G. 1962. On some reptile collections from the North-Western and North-Eastern Districts of Southern Rhodesia 1958-1961, with descriptions of four new lizards. Occ. Pap. Nat. Mus. South. Rhodesia 26 (B): 787-843
  • Broadley, D.G. 1998. The reptilian fauna of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa). In: Schmidt, K.P. and Noble, G.K., Contributions to the Herpetology of the Belgian Congo... [reprint of the 1919 and 1923 papers]. SSAR Facsimile reprints in Herpetology, 780 pp.
  • Broadley, Donald G. and F. P. D. Cotterill. 2004. The reptiles of southeast Katanga, an overlooked 'hot spot'. [Congo]. African Journal of Herpetology 53 (1): 35-61. - get paper here
  • Buruwate, T. C., & Lloyd-Jones, D. J. 2024. Amphibian and Reptile Diversity of Niassa Special Reserve, Northern Mozambique. Journal of East African Natural History, 113(1), 1-18 - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1870. Seventh contribution to the herpetology of tropical America. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 11: 147-169 [1869] - get paper here
  • Fritz, P. 2007. Zwerggürtelschweife: Haltung und Vermehrung von Cordylus tropidosternum (COPE, 1869). Reptilia (Münster) 12 (65): 24-31 - get paper here
  • Fritz, P. 2007. Care and Breeding of the Tropical Girdled Lizard, Cordylus tropidosternum. Reptilia (GB) (52): - 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
  • Greenbaum, Eli; Edward L. Stanley, Chifundera Kusamba, Wandege M. Moninga, Stephen R. Goldberg & Charles R. Bursey 2012. A new species of Cordylus (Squamata: Cordylidae) from the Marungu Plateau of south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. African Journal of Herpetology 61 (1): 14-39 - get paper here
  • Klerks, M.; Struijk, R. & Loehr, V. 2002. Die Haltun gdes Zwerggürtelschweifs Cordylus tropidosternum tropidosternum (COPE 1869). Elaphe 10 (2): 31-43
  • Krabbe-Paulduro, Ursula & Paulduro, Ernst 1987. Cordylus jonesii (Boulenger). Sauria 9 (4) Suppl.: 93-96. - get paper here
  • Lilge, D. 2008. Zusatzinformationen zu den Titelthemen “Schildechsen” und “Gürtelschweife” (Reptilia Nr. 69 und Nr. 65). Reptilia (Münster) 13 (71): 3-5 - get paper here
  • Loveridge, A. 1920. Notes on East African lizards collected 1915-1919, with description of a new genus and species of skink and new subspecies of gecko. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1920: 131-167 - get paper here
  • Loveridge, A. 1923. Notes on East African lizards collected 1920-1923 with the description of two new races of Agama lionotus Blgr. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1923: 935-969 - get paper here
  • Lyakurwa, J., Loader, S., Ngalason, W., Gumbs, R., Ofori-Boateng, C. and Liedtke, H. 2024. Kimboza, a Small Lowland Forest With an Outstanding Herpetofauna Diversity in East Africa. Ecol Evol, 14: e70406 - get paper here
  • Malonza, Patrick K.; David M. Mulwa, Joash O. Nyamache, Georgina Jones 2017. Biogeography of the Shimba Hills ecosystem herpetofauna in Kenya. Zoological Research 38(5): 1-11 - get paper here
  • Mertens, R. 1938. Über eine herpetologische Sammlung aus dem Gebiete des Njarasa-Grabens Ost-Afrikas. Veröffentlichungen aus dem Deutschen Kolonial- und Übersee-Museum in Bremen 2 (1): 1-9 [no page numbers]
  • MOUTON, P. LE FRAS N.; DAHNÉ A. JANSE VAN RENSBURG and JOHANNES H. VAN WYK 2010. Epidermal glands in cordylid lizards, with special reference to generation glands. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 158: 312–324. - get paper here
  • Pfeffer, G. 1889. Übersicht der von Herrn Dr. Franz Stuhlmann in Ägypten, auf Sanzibar und dem gegenüberliegenden Festlande gesammelten Reptilien, Amphibien, Fische, Molluskten und Krebse. Jb. Hamb. Wiss. Anst. 6 (2): 1-36
  • Pfeffer, G. 1893. Ostafrikanische Reptilien und Amphibien, gesammelt von Herrn Dr. F. Stuhlmann im Jahre 1888 und 1889. Jb. Hamb. Wiss. Anst. 10: 71-105.
  • Pienaar, Uys de Villiers 1978. The Reptile Fauna of the Kruger National Park. Pretoria: National Parks Board of South Africa, i-vii, 222 S.
  • Pietersen, Darren, Verburgt, Luke & Davies, John 2021. Snakes and other reptiles of Zambia and Malawi. Struik Nature / Penguin Random House South Africa, 376 pp., ISBN 9781775847373
  • Reissig, J. 2014. Girdled Lizards and Their Relatives. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, ISBN-10: 3899734378
  • Spawls, S. & Rotich, D. 1997. An annotated checklist of the lizards of Kenya. J. East African Nat. Hist. 86: 61-83
  • Spawls, S.; Howell, K.; Drewes, R.C. & Ashe, J. 2002. A field guide to the reptiles of East Africa. Academic Press, 543 pp. [reviews in HR 34: 396 and Afr. J. Herp. 51; 147] - get paper here
  • Spawls, Steve; Kim Howell, Harald Hinkel, Michele Menegon 2018. Field Guide to East African Reptiles. Bloomsbury, 624 pp. - 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
  • Struijk, Richard 2002. Cordylus tropidosternum tropidosternum Cope 1869 Tropical Girdled Lizard. Reproduction. African Herp News (34): 25-27 - get paper here
  • Switak, Karl H. 1995. Die Gürtelschweife der Gattung Cordylus (2). TI-Magazin, Nr. 122 (März 1995), 39-42.v
  • Switak, Karl H. 1995. Girdle-tailed lizards of the genus Cordylus. Reptiles 3 (6): 8-24
  • Tornier,G. 1897. Die Kriechthiere Deutsch-Ostafrikas. Beiträge zur Systematik und Descendenzlehre. D. Reimer, Berlin, 164 pp. - get paper here
  • Werning, H. 2015. Jurassic World im Wohnzimmer. Mini-Dinos für das Terrarium. Reptilia (Münster) 20 (114): 26-37 - get paper here
  • Ziegler, T. 2005. Nachzuchterfolge 2002 im Aquarium des Kölner Zoos. Herpetofauna 25 (142): 22-24 [2003/2004] - get paper here
 
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