Once a year in autumn, the female gives birth to one relatively big baby.Īrmadillo lizards are endemic to the mountains and rocky hills of the Succulent Karoo region of western South Africa from the Orange River southwards to north of Porterville and eastwards to west of Laingsburg. They are social animals and form family groups of up to 60 individuals in one crevice. These lizards are strict rock-dwellers and live in horizontal crevices. These termite mounds are often far from their crevices, and they must therefore move distances of between 4–20 m to find this food source. They were thought to be only sit-and-wait feeders, but studies have shown that most of their stomach contents consist of termites. These relatively slow-moving lizards are very shy and quick to hide when approached.
These lizards are associated with rocky habitats in dry succulent karoo veld and in close proximity to termite mounds (termites are an important food source – see below). They can stay in this position for up to an hour.
This species has characteristic defence behaviour: when they are in danger and cannot reach a crevice or rock crack to hide in, they will roll into a ball and bite their tail, protecting their softer underside. The males and females are very similar and can reach an average total length of about 150-200 mm. There are several rows of sharp heavy spines covering the back of the tail, which is not easily discarded as in many other lizards. The underside is smooth and yellow with some dark brown markings.
This heavily-armoured, stocky lizard varies in colour from greyish brown to light yellowish brown. The landscape is gently rolling to nearly level, and elevations range from 300 to 800 feet above sea level. Armadillo girdled lizard Pantstergordelakkedis