Broadley's Flat Lizard

The Broadley's Flat Lizard is a species of lizard in the Cordylidae family.

Geography

The Broadley's Flat Lizard has its range between Augrabies Falls and Pella, North Cape in South Africa. This area includes the lower Orange River, Northern Cape Province, and Gordonia District. This lizard's habitat are rocky savannahs.

Description

Females and juveniles have a dark brown back, with three thick, cream stripes on the back. These stripes may be broken up into spots, or have spots in between the stripes. The belly is white, sometimes with a black dot on it, and at the rear there is an orange color. The tail is straw-colored. Adult males have a bluish head and a greenish back. A darker area in the middle and the vestiges of the juvenile stripes and spots are also present. The forelimbs are yellow to orange, the throat is dark blue, and the belly is black in the front but becomes orange near the tail. Above the tail, it is a tan color, while below and on the sides, it is orange. All this coloration, while it helps attract females, also has a downside: predators such as kestrels easily spot them. Females, on the other hand, have much more subdued coloration and are less likely to be eaten. The Broadley's Flat Lizard is very similar to Platysaurus capensis, or the Cape Flat Lizard, in scalation, but differs in having finer scalation on top of the forelimbs.

Habits

Broadley's Flat Lizards are common in the granite walls of Augrabies Falls National Park, where they can tolerate thousands of tourists. In summer, they eat swarms of black flies that congregate near rivers, but they will also eat ripe berries of Namaqua Fig Trees. Broadley's Flat Lizards will follow bird flocks to find these fruit-laden trees. One major predator of this lizard is the Rock Kestrel. Research indicates that the higher the UV levels on a male's throat, the more dominant it is and is less likely to be challenged.