Spotted sand lizard

Introduction: The Spotted Sand lizard (Pedioplanis lineoocellata) is a small lizard with a short tail. It has a slightly flattened head and body, ideal to move around the flat rocky veld. They are active during the day, even in the colder winter periods, sheltering in small burrows dug beneath a flat rock. They are difficult to catch because they dart from stone to stone, and will also run into open ground.

Distribution: From Luderitz through the central highlands into the central and southern Kalahari Desert areas into Botswana. Absent from the Namib Desert.

Diet: These lizards will sit and wait for their prey to parade in front of them before they grab small insects after a short, swift run from cover. They are seasonal feeders on termites during winter and beetles and locusts in the summer.

Colouring: A varied colouration depending on location ranging from buff to grey-brown or red-brown, often with 2 to 4 rows of small, pale dorsal spots that merge into broken or continuous dorsolateral stripes. The hind limbs are usually spotted and the belly is white. Namibian species are more brightly coloured than other southern African spotted sand lizards.

Breeding: Females lay between 4 to 8 eggs in November after digging a suitable chamber in moist soil beneath a rock for shade and protection. Eggs hatch in February.

Size: SVL 45 to 55mm. Max SVL 58mm.