Common Flat Lizard

Common Flat Lizard
Adult male at N'wanetsi River, Kruger National Park (South Africa) Probably P. i. intermedius
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Cordylidae
Genus:	Platysaurus
Species:	P. intermedius
Binomial name
Platysaurus intermedius Matschie 1891

The Common Flat Lizard (Platysaurus intermedius) is a species of lizard in the Cordylidae family. This lizard has nine subspecies, all living in southern Africa.

Description

The females and juveniles of all subspecies of Platysaurus intermedius have black scales, with white stripes on the back. The bellies are brown, but the outer edge of the belly is white. Adult males have different colorations for each subspecies.

Geography

Common Flat Lizards are the most widely distributed and common Platysaurus. These lizards live under exfoliating, or weathering, rocks. The preferred types of rock of this lizard are granite, sandstone, and quartzite. These lizards can be found in moderately moist savannahs, as well as rock outcrops. Its ranges throughout Zimbabwe, North Province, Mpumalanga, southern Malawi, eastern Botswana, Swaziland, Mozambique, and northern KwaZulu-Natal. This area includes the Kalahari desert, and several large river drainage systems.^[1]

Habits

Common Flat Lizards can be found in very large colonies. One example is Rhodes Grade, in Matopos, Zimbabwe. Two oval-shaped eggs are laid between November and December in a communal egg site for the colony. These communal egg sites are in a warmed crack in a rock. The hatchlings, which are 30-35 mm long, hatch in late December or January.

Common Flat Lizards can live about three years in captivity.^[2]

Common Flat Lizards have shown in tests that temperature does not effect their digestion efficiency. ^[3]

Subspecies

Nine subspecies are recognized, which are described in more detail below.

P. i. wilhelmi

Male P. i. whilhelmi are green or brown on their back. White spots are also present. The tail begins as red and changes to yellow at the end of the tail. The belly is mostly blue, but in the center it its black. This subspecies can be found in southern Mpumalanga, a province of South Africa. P. i. wilhelmi may not be a subspecies of Platysaurus intermedius, as it possibly is closer to the Lebombo Flat Lizard, Platysaurus lebomboensis. Males have been found to run shorter distances and go into hiding from a predator earlier then females.^[4]

P. i. rhodesianus

P.i.rhodesianus is one of the largest subspecies of the Common Flat Lizard, reaching 120 mm in length. Males can either have a blue-green head or a yellow-green head. The head also has three white stripes on it. The back's color is dependent on range. For the majority of P. i. rhodesianus's range, the front part of its back is blue-green. The only exception to this rule is in Mozambique, where the front part is red. In the eastern part of its range, the lower part of its back is green, and in the western part of its range, the lower part of its back is red. Tails can be either greenish or yellowish, like many other Platysaurus. Two phases for the neck and chest can occur. The first phase has a blue throat, a black collar, and a mud-colored chest. The second phase has a yellow throat, black collar, and a green or blue chest.

This race occurs in all of Zimbabwe except the northeast. Other places it can be found include eastern Botswana, and the Limpopo.

P. i. nigrescens

P.i. nigrescens is 7.5-9 cm long. Males have a black head, chin, throat, chest, and belly. There are yellow scales scattered across this lizard's body. The tail is bright orange. This subspecies occurs near the Shoshong Hills, in northeastern Botswana.

P. i. subniger

P. i. subniger is similar in size to P. i. rhodesianus. Males of this subspecies have a dark green back which becomes brown or black in the rear of the back, and have whitish spots. In males from Trelawney, Zimbabwe, this back is uniform red, also with whitish spots. The tail and throat are orange (though the throat can also be yellow or white), while the chest and belly are black.

It has been proved, by a female specimen, that this subspecies can live 3.1 years in captivity (see Habits).

P. i. parvus

P. i. parvus is 65-75 mm long. Males have a dark green back in the front, but in the posterior part of the back it is red-brown. The back can also have whitish spots, similr to many other Platysaurus. The tail is a dark orange, while the throat is pale blue. The neck has two black spots on either side. This is a reduced collar. The chest and belly are blue, similar to other Platysaurus.

This race can be found on Blouberg, a mountain, in North Province.

P. i. natalensis

P. i. natalansis occurs in Swaziland and KwaZulu-Natal, a province of South Africa. P. i. natalensis backs are dark green, with white spots and stripes. The tail is orange. The throat is yellow or pale blue, with black spots and a black collar. The chest and belly are two different shades of blue.

P. i. intermedius

P. i. intermedius is 85-90 mm long, and was the first subspecies of Platysaurus intermedius to be found.^[5]The heads and bodies are green or brown, along with nearly nonexistent spots and stripes. The tail, like many other lizards in the Platysaurus genus, is either red or yellow. The throat and the belly are blue, as many other males in this species.

This subspecies is found around Pietersburg, North Province.

P. i. inopinus

P. i. inopinus males are similar to P. i. parvus in appearance and size. Two major differences are white thighs with black spotting and a lack of a reduced collar. P. i. inopinus can be found in the foothills of Blouberg, Northern Cape in South Africa.

P. i. nyasae

P. i. nyasae occurs in Malawi and central Mozambique. They were discovered in 1953. ^[6]

See also

• Platysaurus

References

1. ^ "Shifting Sands and Shifting Lizards". ScienceDirect. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WNH-49NVGDS-6&_user=10&_coverDate=05%2F31%2F2004&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=c275cbb4ac40718085f098b493f427e6. Retrieved 2007-08-10. 
2. ^ "Platysaurus intermedius subniger". Longevity Records. http://www.demogr.mpg.de/cgi-bin/longevityrecords/indexsearch.plx?category=2&data=3004. Retrieved 2007-08-10. 
3. ^ "Platysaurus intermedius digestion". APT Online. http://apt.allenpress.com/aptonline/?request=get-abstract&issn=0045-8511&volume=999&issue=02&page=0299. Retrieved 2007-08-12. 
4. ^ "University of Chicago Press". Physiological and Biochemical Zoology. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/resolve?id=doi:10.1086/376423&erFrom=-6496177761921323447Guest. Retrieved 2007-08-09. 
5. ^ "Platysaurus intermedius". The Reptile Database. http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species.php?genus=Platysaurus&species=intermedius. Retrieved 2007-08-12. 
6. ^ "Platysaurus intermedius". The Reptile Database. http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species.php?genus=Platysaurus&species=intermedius. Retrieved 2007-08-12. 

External links

• More information