Zonosaurus madagascariensis
Silhouette: Beth Reinke · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The Madagascar girdled lizard or Madagascar plated lizard (Zonosaurus madagascariensis) is a species of lizard in the family Gerrhosauridae. It is found in Madagascar, some outlying islands (Nosy Be and the nearby islands; Grande Glorieuse) and the Seychelles (Cosmoledo). This generally common lizard is found in a range of habitat types, including open and degraded humid forest at mid and low altitudes. It also occurs in plantations. On Cosmoledo, it occurs in open shrubland. This oviparous lizard grows to 30 cm (12 in) total length.
The family Gerrhosauridae shares the strongest evolutionary linkages to Asian and South American Species. However, the population on the island most likely originated from colonization by ancestors "rafting" from the African Mainland. Within the Island of Madagascar, the Malagasy Plated Lizards are denoted by two individual genera of Gerrhosauridae: 1. Tracheloptychus, which consists of 2 separate species that occupy the subarid south and south-west regions of the Island 2. Zonosaurus, which consists of 17 species occupy the majority of the biomes distributed throughout the Island.
Originally, scientists concluded, based on morphological... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mantadia National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ZooParc de Beauval | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Paris Zoological Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Aquarium du palais de la Porte Dorée | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Kyiv Zoo | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 5 | Ivoloina | 🇲🇬 Madagascar |
No species of the same family or order lives in Mantadia National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Madagascar Girdled Lizard sighting in Mantadia National Park on a given day, based on 21 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 6th most-seen of the 15 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Madagascar Girdled Lizard in Mantadia National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June to September, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Madagascar Girdled Lizard sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Mantadia National Park, in our data
Mantadia National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Madagascar Girdled Lizard sightings: about 40% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Madagascar Girdled Lizard is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Mantadia National Park (21 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
