Meroles knoxii
Silhouette: Gustav Mützel · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Meroles knoxii, also known commonly as Knox's desert lizard and Knox's ocellated sand lizard, is a species of sand-dwelling lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is native to southern Africa. The specific name, knoxii, is in honor of Scottish anatomist Robert Knox.
Adults of M. knoxii usually have a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 5.5–6.5 cm (2.2–2.6 in). The ear openings are visible. The toes are slightly fringed. Dorsally, the body is brownish, with a striped and spotted pattern. Ventrally, it is bluish gray to cream-colored, except during breeding season when males have a bright yellow chin, throat, and anal region.
M. knoxii occurs in Namibia and South Africa. The preferred natural habitat of M. knoxii is shrubland. M. knoxii is terrestrial, diurnal, and active, dashing across sandy soil from shrub to shrub. M. knoxii preys upon beetles, flies, and other insects.
M. knoxii is oviparous. Duméril AMC, Bibron G (1839). Erpétologie générale ou Histoire naturelle complète des Reptiles. Tome cinquième [Volume 5]. Paris: Roret.... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Knox's Ocellated Sand Lizard sighting in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 93 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 19th most-seen of the 41 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Knox's Ocellated Sand Lizard in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Knox's Ocellated 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 Table Mountain National Park, in our data
Table Mountain National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Knox's Ocellated Sand Lizard sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Knox's Ocellated Sand Lizard is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Table Mountain National Park (93 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.
