Pedioplanis inornata
Silhouette: Gustav Mützel · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
Pedioplanis inornata, known commonly as the plain sand lizard or the western sand lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to Southern Africa. P. inornata is found in Namibia and South Africa.
Adults of P. inornata have a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 4.5–5.0 cm (1.8–2.0 in), with a tail slightly more than twice SVL. The "window" in the lower eyelid is composed of 2–4 large semitransparent scales. Dorsally, P. inornata is uniformly grayish brown, and it has pale greenish spots on the flanks.
P. inornata is oviparous. Conradie W, Measey GJ, Branch WR, Tolley KA (2012). "Revised phylogeny of African sand lizards (Pedioplanis), with the description of two new species from south-western Angola". African Journal of Herpetology 61 (2): 91–112.
Herrmann H-W, Branch WR (2013). "Fifty years of herpetological research in the Namib desert and Namibia with an updated and annotated species checklist". Journal of Arid Environments 93: 94–115. Makokha JS, Bauer AM, Mayer W, Matthee CA (2007). "Nuclear and mtDNA-based phylogeny of southern African sand lizards, Pedioplanis... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Namib-Naukluft National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Plain Sand Lizard sighting in Namib-Naukluft National Park on a given day, based on 28 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 14th most-seen of the 39 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Plain Sand Lizard in Namib-Naukluft National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June and July, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Plain Sand 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 Namib-Naukluft National Park, in our data
Namib-Naukluft National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Plain Sand Lizard sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Pedioplanis
The closest relatives of the Plain Sand Lizard that you can see in Namib-Naukluft National Park (genus Pedioplanis) are Bill’s Sand Lizard (about 20%), Namaqua Sand Lizard (about 20%) and Short-headed Sandveld Lizard (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Plain Sand Lizard is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Namib-Naukluft National Park (28 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.
