Title: The ecology of the armadillo lizard, Cordylus cataphractus, in the Greater Cederberg Area.

Background

I have always been interested in ecology and therefore decided to join the Vertebrate Functional Biology Group in 2003. I have a natural tendency to be interested in all the critters that most people think twice about, so lizards and snakes were right up my alley. I completed an honour's project in 2003 on the large-scaled girdled lizard, Cordylus macropholis. In this study I investigated aggressive behaviour in adult males towards juvenile males and also looked at testosterone levels.

Cordylus macropholis is a group-living lizard and there are only three group-living species found within the family Cordylidae, of which one is the armadillo lizard, Cordylus cataphractus. Permanent group-living is a unique phenomenon among lizards and this uniqueness eventually became the subject matter of my master's study.

Cordylus cataphractus

Current Research

So my current master's study focuses on certain aspects of the ecology of the armadillo lizard, Cordylus cataphractus. I will be concentrating largely on sociality within this species. The armadillo lizard, Cordylus cataphractus, is found to naturally occur in groups. Effenberger (2004) postulated that dependence on termites, as a food source has been a key factor in the evolution of group-living behaviour in C. cataphractus. The aim of my study is to investigate the relationship between the southern harvester termite, Microhodotermes viator, and C. cataphractus in terms of range and population effects.

Searching for these lizards.

This relationship is being investigated at a macro-, meso-, and microscale. I will also be conducting a long-term scat analysis study, to investigate the utilization of M. viator by C. cataphractus throughout the year. A group fidelity study will also be conducted in a low density C. cataphractus area to investigate intergroup movement in this species where distances between groups are fairly extensive. The larger portion of this study will be conducted in the Greater Cederberg Biodiversity Corridor (GCBC). The GCBC is located on the West Coast of South Africa and is a newly proposed area of conservancy in the Cederberg region. The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) is funding a multi-partner project on the effective conservation of amphibians and reptiles in the GCBC. This master's study is being conducted in collaboration with the current three-year survey of the GCBC being conducted by the University of Stellenbosch, CapeNature, SAN Parks, Northern Cape Nature Conservation, Mountain Club of South Africa and Kontrei Toere.

Supervisors:

Prof P le F N Mouton and Prof JH van Wyk

Societies:  

Member: Herpetological Association of Africa

Member: Zoological Society of Southern Africa