Welcome to the 'Cordyliformes Archive' – an ever-growing website that catalogs scientific papers and books concerned with the systematic, ecology, biology, behaviour and care of the Cordyliformes species. All references in this Cordyliformes Archive based on the citations of the Cordyliformes Bibliography and included all of those publications that contain important reference to aspects of cordyliformes herpetology (not included are checklists, papers on generic or family level with no new or important subjects to species, citations which are not in my library; e.g.). I have included any literature citation that thought might be helpful to potentional users attempting to deal with the systematics, biology or keeping of Cordyliformes species.


The Archive also includes an extensive taxonomy which started with 1758 (same as in the bibliography – the year which formally marks the establishment of the Linnean binomial system of classification), and will be updated regular. The information in this archive is grouped into traditional units (genus, species and subspecies), each website contains a genus (see table above). After the valid species, the synonyms are listed, [notice: no form of punctuation separates an original name (junior synonym) from the author (for example: '1845 Zonurus derbianus Gray'). In all subsequent spellings of names (different combinations) I have used an em-dash (–) to separate a name from its associated author] followed by the reference in which the current genus or species combination appeared the first time (incl. type locality and data about the type). The Cordyliformes Archive consists of author, date and the contents of the paper (for full citation see the Cordyliformes Bibliography).

Some important references:

Angel, F. (1942): Les Lézards de Madagascar.  •  Auerbach, R. D. (1987): The Amphibians and Reptiles of Botswana.  • Augé, M. (1987): Les Cordylidae (Reptilia, Lacertilia) de l’Eocene Francais. [not included in the Archive] •  Boulenger, G. A. (1885): Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History), Second Edition, Volume II. •  Boulenger, G. A. (1887): Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History), Second Edition, Volume III.  • Branch, W. R. (ed.) (1988[a]): A Provisional and Annotated Checklist of the Herpetofauna of Southern Africa. [not included in the Archive] •  Branch, W. R. (1988[b]): Bill Branch’s Field Guide to the Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. [not included in the Archive] •  Branch, W. R. (1998): Field Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. [Third Revised Edition]. •  Broadley, D. G. (1978): A revision of the Genus Platysaurus A. Smith. •  Brygoo, É.-R. (1985): Les Gerrhosaurinae de Madagascar, Sauria (Cordylidae). •  Fitzsimons, V. F. M. (1943): The Lizards of South Africa.   • Glaw, F. & Vences, M. (1994): A Fieldguide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar. Second edition – including mammals and freshwater fish.  • Jacobsen, N. H. G. & Newbery, R. E. (1989): The Genus Platysaurus A. Smith 1844 in the Transvaal. •  Lang, M. (1991): Generic relationships within Cordyliformes (Reptilia: Squamata). [not included in the Archive] •  Loveridge, A. (1942): Revision of the African Lizards of the Family Gerrhosauridae.  • Loveridge, A. (1944): Revision of the African Lizards of the Family Cordylidae.  • Mertens, R. (1955): Die Amphibien und Reptilien Südwestafrikas. Aus den Ergebnissen einer im Jahre 1952 ausgeführten Reise.  • Mertens, R. (1971): Die Herpetofauna Südwest-Afrikas. •  Mouton, P. le F. N. & Wyk, J. H. van (1997): Adaptive Radiation in Cordyliform Lizards: An Overview. [not included in the Archive] •  Visser, J. D. (1984): Akkedisse van Suider-Afrika [parts 31, 32, 37–41]. •  Welch, K. R. G. (1982): Herpetology of Africa: A Checklist and Bibliography of the Orders Amphisbaenia, Sauria and Serpentes. [not included in the Archive] •  Welch, K. R. G. (1994): Lizards of the World, A Checklist: 5. Agamidae, Chamaeleonidae, Cordylidae and Gerrhosauridae. [not included in the Archive] •  Wermuth, H. (1968): Cordylidae (Cordylinae + Gerrhosaurinae). Das Tierreich.

Abbreviations used in the Archive:

• = separates references
> = more than
[a], [b] ... = separates citations of the same year from an author (see the bibliography)
behav = behavior (includes: biotop, habitat, reproduction, diet, natural history, cannibalism, age, ecology, feeding, food, growth, locomotion, parasites etc.)
distr = distribution (includes: biogeography, maps, locations etc.)
MCZ = Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge/Mass.
MHNP = Museum National d´Histoire Naturelle, Paris
morph = Morphology (includes: size, remarks about scales, variations, coloration etc)
NHM = The Natural History Museum, London
SMF = Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt/Main
sys = systematics (includes: nomenclature, evolution, paleontology etc.)
ter = terrarium (includes: care, housing, breeding etc.)
TM = Transvaal Museum, Pretoria
ZFMK = Zoologisches Forschungsinstitut und Museum Koenig, Bonn
ZMB = Zoological Museum, Berlin

© Klaus Adolphs  – created: 26 February 2001  – last changed or updated: 1 November 2006