Meroles anchietae
Silhouette: Gustav Mützel · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%
The shovel-snouted lizard (Meroles anchietae), also known commonly as Anchieta's desert lizard, Anchieta's dune lizard and the Namib sand-diver, is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is native to southern Africa.
The specific name, anchietae, is in honor of Portuguese naturalist José Alberto de Oliveira Anchieta, who was an explorer of Africa. M. anchietae is found in Angola and Namibia. The preferred natural habitat of M. anchietae is desert, with aeolian sand dunes and sparse vegetation, at altitudes from sea level to 500 m (1,600 ft).
Adults of M. anchietae have a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of about 5 cm (2.0 in). M. anchietae preys upon insects, especially small beetles, as well as fresh plants. Some individuals in the Namib Desert have been observed to eat seeds occasionally, while others consume seeds exclusively. Such seeds are typically eaten in their green, unripe phase, and could thus be considered a form of herbivory rather than granivory.
M. anchietae is oviparous. Arnold EN (1989). "Towards a phylogeny and biogeography... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Namib-Naukluft National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Shovel-snouted Lizard sighting in Namib-Naukluft National Park on a given day, based on 86 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 3rd most-seen of the 39 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February, April–May, July–September and November–December
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Shovel-snouted Lizard in Namib-Naukluft National Park on a given day, against about 20% in October, the lowest month.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Shovel-snouted 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 Shovel-snouted Lizard sightings: about 40% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Meroles
The closest relatives of the Shovel-snouted Lizard that you can see in Namib-Naukluft National Park (genus Meroles, Desert Lizards) are Wedge-snouted Desert Lizard (about 50%) and Spotted Desert Lizard (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Shovel-snouted Lizard is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Namib-Naukluft National Park (86 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.
