girdle-tailed lizard

girdle-tailed lizard, any of various south and east African and Madagascan lizards belonging to the family Cordylidae. They are live-bearers, having as few as one to four young per litter.

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 when the lizard, threatened by a predator, grabs its tail in its mouth and forms a ring with the sharp spines projecting outward.