Pedioplanis breviceps
Silhouette: Gustav Mützel · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Pedioplanis breviceps, known commonly as the short-headed sand lizard, the short-headed sandveld lizard, and Sternfeld's sand lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to Namibia. P. breviceps is found in northwestern Namibia.
The preferred natural habitat of P. breviceps is desert. P. breviceps is a small species for its genus. It has a short head, to which the specific name, breviceps, refers. Adults have a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 4.5–5.5 cm (1.8–2.2 in). The lower eyelid is scaly and opaque, without a "window". There is sexual dimorphism in coloration: adult females and juveniles have distinct dark dorsal stripes, but adult males are uniformly brown dorsally.
P. breviceps is oviparous. An adult female may lay a clutch of 2–4 eggs. Each egg measures 11 mm (0.43 in) by 6 mm (0.24 in). Each hatchling has a total length (including tail) of 5–8 cm (2.0–3.1 in). Conradie W, Measey GJ, Branch WR, Tolley KA (2012). "Revised phylogeny of African sand lizards (Pedioplanis), with description of two new species from south-western Angola... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Namib-Naukluft National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Short-headed Sandveld Lizard sighting in Namib-Naukluft National Park on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 23rd most-seen of the 39 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Short-headed Sandveld Lizard in Namib-Naukluft National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January, April, June and November, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Short-headed Sandveld 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 Short-headed Sandveld Lizard sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Pedioplanis
The closest relatives of the Short-headed Sandveld Lizard that you can see in Namib-Naukluft National Park (genus Pedioplanis) are Bill’s Sand Lizard (about 20%), Plain Sand Lizard (about 20%) and Namaqua Sand Lizard (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Short-headed Sandveld Lizard is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Namib-Naukluft National Park (15 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.
