Giant girdled lizard: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the giant girdled lizard lives – recorded in 1 country, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Smaug giganteus
Group	Lizards, geckos & tuatara
Status	Vulnerable (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	1 country
Continents	Africa
Class	Reptile
Order	Squamata
Family	Cordylidae

Where does the giant girdled lizard live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the giant girdled lizard in 1 country or territory across Africa. Wikidata lists it as endemic to South Africa.

South Africa

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the giant girdled lizard endangered?

The giant girdled lizard’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Vulnerable” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the giant girdled lizard?

The giant girdled lizard (Smaug giganteus) is a reptile in the order Squamata and the family Cordylidae, genus Smaug. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the giant girdled lizard

The sungazer (Smaug giganteus, syn. Cordylus giganteus), also known as the giant girdled lizard, giant dragon lizard, ouvolk, or giant zonure, is the largest species of the Cordylidae, a family of lizards from Sub-Saharan Africa. This threatened species is endemic to Highveld grasslands in the interior of South Africa. In 2011, it was assigned to the new genus Smaug, along with seven other species previously belonging to the genus Cordylus, based on a comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the Cordylidae.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Giant girdled lizard (revision 1379490913), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q1423469 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).