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Hemicordylus capensis (SMITH, 1838)

IUCN Red List - Hemicordylus capensis - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaCordylidae (Cordylinae), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Cape Cliff Lizard, Graceful Crag Lizard 
SynonymCordylus (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 
DistributionRepublic 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].  
ReproductionOvoviviparous/Viviparous, giving birth to 1–3 young. 
TypesHolotype: BMNH (presumed, status unclear fide P. Campbell, pers. comm., March 2019). 
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 447 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSubspecies: 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.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after the type locality in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

The genus was named after Greek hemi (ἡμι-), half + Latin Cordylus, lizard genus due to Laurenti, 1768. [?]. 
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
  • Tolley, K.A., Conradie, W., Pietersen, D.W., Weeber, J., Burger, M. & Alexander, G.J. (eds) 2023. Conservation status of the reptiles of South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho. Suricata 10. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria
  • Uetz, P.H.; Patel, M.; Gbadamosi, Z.; Nguyen, A.; Shoope, S. 2024. A Reference Database of Reptile Images. Taxonomy 4: 723–732 - 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
 
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