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Girdle-tailed Lizard — Cordylidae is a family of mid-sized lizards that inhabits Madagascar and eastern Africa. The family is mostly terrestrial and insectivorous. They have rows of plated or spiny scales which cover their body. They are commonly known as the Spinytail lizards or Girdletailed lizards.
Their name is derived from the rings of spiny scales that encircle the tail, and sometimes the body, in a series of whorls. In some species the armoured girdles serve effectively as protection.
Girdle-tailed lizards are any of 23 species constituting the family Cordylidae and are characterized by a spiny tail. The spines consist of the raised, projected keels of large body scales that encircle the tail in successive whorls. In some species the whorls of spiny scales may extend along the body. The spines provide protection: the armadillo lizard, Cordylus cataphractus, for example, when attacked in the open, rolls onto its back, curls its tail over its belly, and then clutches it in its mouth, presenting a prickly ball to its enemies.
