Tropidosaura gularis
Silhouette: Gustav Mützel · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Tropidosaura gularis, also known commonly as the Cape mountain lizard and the yellow-striped mountain lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to South Africa. The preferred natural habitat of T. gularis is shrubland.
Adults of T. gularis have a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 5–6 cm (2.0–2.4 in). T. gularis is insectivorous, preying predominantly on bees and flies. T. gularis is oviparous. An adult female may lay a clutch of 4–8 eggs, each of which measures on average 11.5 x 7.5 mm (0.45 x 0.30 in).
FitzSimons VF (1943). The Lizards of South Africa. Pretoria: Transvaal Museum. xvi + 528 pp. (Tropidosaura gularis, p. 304). Hewitt J (1927). "Further descriptions of reptiles and batrachians from South Africa". Records of the Albany Museum, Grahamstown 3 (5): 371–415. (Tropidosaura gularis, new species, p. 387). Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Mountain Lizard sighting in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 13 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 35th most-seen of the 41 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and October–January
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Mountain Lizard in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February and April–September, the lowest months. Those are among Table Mountain National Park's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain a month against 110 mm in June.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cape Mountain 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 Table Mountain National Park, in our data
Table Mountain National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Cape Mountain Lizard sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Cape Mountain Lizard is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Table Mountain National Park (13 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.
