Reptiles
Plated Lizard
Gerrhosauridae · also called plated lizards
A plated lizard looks armoured almost exactly like a girdled lizard, right down to the neat rows of bony-plated scales and the flexible skin fold along each side — and yet the two families are only distant cousins, having each independently evolved the same armoured solution to similar African pressures.
Overview
Plated lizards, family Gerrhosauridae, are found across savanna, grassland, and rocky habitat in sub-Saharan Africa and on Madagascar. An omnivore’s diet of insects, fruit, and leaves fuels a family ranging from small, slender species to some of Africa’s larger lizards.
Armour as a backup, not a first line
Most plated lizards rely mainly on speed and a nearby crevice or burrow to escape danger, treating their bony-plated scales as a secondary defence rather than a first response. A flexible skin fold along each side lets the body expand for a large meal or a clutch of eggs.
Status
Least Concern — widespread and adaptable across much of sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar, with only more range-restricted species facing real habitat vulnerability.
Plated Lizard: common questions
Are plated lizards closely related to girdled lizards?
No, despite both being armoured African lizards with a broadly similar row-of-plates appearance, plated lizards and girdled lizards belong to separate, only distantly related lizard families, Gerrhosauridae and Cordylidae respectively, and their similar armoured look is considered a case of convergent evolution rather than a sign of close common ancestry. Both families independently evolved a similar solution, bony-reinforced scale plates, to broadly similar ecological pressures within African habitats.
Why does a plated lizard have a fold of skin along its sides?
This flexible lateral skin fold, found in several plated lizard species, is more elastic than the rest of the body's rigid, armoured scales and can expand outward to accommodate a large meal, developing eggs, or general seasonal body changes without the more rigid dorsal armour needing to stretch or crack, a similar adaptation to that found in some other armoured lizard families facing the same basic anatomical challenge.
How big can a plated lizard get?
Plated lizard species vary considerably in size across the family, ranging from smaller, slender species to some of the more substantial lizard species found in parts of Africa, meaning there is no single typical size for the family as a whole. This size range reflects the family's considerable ecological diversity across the many different habitats and specific niches occupied by its roughly several dozen species.
How does a plated lizard usually escape from predators?
Rather than relying primarily on standing its ground behind its armour, many plated lizard species rely mainly on speed, quickly fleeing toward and retreating into a nearby rock crevice, burrow, or dense vegetation when a predator approaches, using their bony-plated scales more as a secondary, passive defence if they are actually caught rather than as their primary survival strategy.