girdle-tailed lizard

girdle-tailed lizard
/gerr"dl tayld'/
any African lizard of the family Cordylidae, having a spiny tail used in defense.

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▪ lizard
 any of various south and east African and Madagascan lizards belonging to the family Cordylidae. They are live-bearers, having as few as one to four young per litter.

      Their name is derived from the rings of spiny scales that encircle the tail, and sometimes the body, in a series of whorls. In some species the armoured girdles serve effectively as protection when the lizard, threatened by a predator, grabs its tail in its mouth and forms a ring with the sharp spines projecting outward.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • girdle-tailed lizard — ˈ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ noun Etymology: so called from its practice of rolling its spiny tail over its soft belly as a protection when threatened : a lizard of the family Cordylidae called also zonure; see klipsalamander * * * /gerr dl tayld / any African …   Useful english dictionary

  • lizard — /liz euhrd/, n. 1. any of numerous scaly reptiles of the suborder Sauria, order Squamata, typically having a moderately elongate body, a tapering tail, and two pairs of legs held outward from the body, comprising mostly terrestrial and burrowing… …   Universalium

  • Squamata — This article is about the Squamata order of reptiles. For the Roman scale armour, see Lorica squamata. Scaled reptiles Temporal range: Late Triassic recent …   Wikipedia

  • Panzergürtelschweif — (Cordylus cataphractus) Systematik Klasse: Reptilien (Reptilia) Ordnung …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • chameleon — Synonyms and related words: April showers, Dalmatian, Gila monster, Proteus, Vicar of Bray, agama, alligator, anole, antigorite, bearded lizard, blindworm, box turtle, butterfly, butterfly agama, candy cane, cayman, cheetah, chrysotile, cloud… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • dragon — Synonyms and related words: Argus, Briareus, Cerberus, Charybdis, Cyclops, Echidna, Gila monster, Gorgon, Harpy, Hydra, Loch Ness monster, Mafioso, Medusa, Minotaur, Pegasus, Python, Scylla, Sphinx, Talos, Tartar, Typhon, Young Turk, agama,… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • reptile — Synonyms and related words: Gila monster, Reptilia, agama, alligator, amphibian, anguine, animal, anole, aquatic, atiptoe, batrachian, bearded lizard, beast, biped, blindworm, box turtle, butterfly agama, canine, cannibal, carnivore, cayman,… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • klipsalamander — ˈklipˌ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ noun Etymology: Afrikaans, from klip + salamander : a spiny girdle tailed lizard (Cordylus cordylus) that is widely distributed in rocky uplands of southern Africa and that exhibits black and yellowish or reddish color… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Cordylus cataphractus —   Cordylus cataphractus …   Wikipedia Español

  • zonure — ˈzōnyə(r) noun ( s) Etymology: New Latin Zonurus : girdle tailed lizard …   Useful english dictionary

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