Cordylidae, family of small to medium-sized lizards that range in length from 6 to 30 cm (2.4 to 11.8 inches). They occur in sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar and include about 10 genera and more than 80 species, which have spiny or platelike protective scales underlain by bony plates.
Most species are terrestrial with well-developed legs. Many are known to be insectivorous and thus consume a wide variety of arthropods, and larger species also prey on small vertebrates. The family is separated into two subfamilies—the girdle-tailed lizards, most of which are viviparous, and the plated lizards, which are oviparous.