---
title: "Cape Girdled Lizard"
description: "Cordylus cordylus — Reptiles. Cordylus cordylus, the Cape girdled lizard, is a medium-sized lizard indigenous to the southern Cape region of South Africa, where it inhabits crags, rocky outcrops and mountain summits."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/es/animal/cape-girdled-lizard
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Cape Girdled Lizard

> Cordylus cordylus — Reptiles. Cordylus cordylus, the Cape girdled lizard, is a medium-sized lizard indigenous to the southern Cape region of South Africa, where it inhabits crags, rocky outcrops and mountain summits.

- Scientific name: *Cordylus cordylus*
- Category: `reptiles` (Reptiles)
- Habitats: `mountains` (Montañas)
- iNaturalist observations: 1743
- Wikidata: [Q2714036](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2714036)
- iNaturalist taxon: [33027](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/33027)

## Names

- en: Cape Girdled Lizard
- de: Zwerg-Gürtelschweif

## Countries with the most observations

ZA (1669)

## Summary

Cordylus cordylus, the Cape girdled lizard, is a medium-sized lizard indigenous to the southern Cape region of South Africa, where it inhabits crags, rocky outcrops and mountain summits. They evade predators by wedging themselves firmly in rock cracks.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordylus_cordylus

## Photo

![Cape Girdled Lizard](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/cape-girdled-lizard/medium.jpg)

Photo: Karin Donald · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/275450992

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/cape-girdled-lizard?lang=es` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).