Nucras species in Western Botswana

[Greg Laws]

Hello....

I am new here, I hope I am following the rigtyt procedure!

I live on a game farm some 30km out of Ghanzi in western Botswana in typical central Kalahari Bushveld on sand with ocassional calcrete pans. I have observed once a sandveld lizard at one pan which has a sand base which I don't find any pictures of on Google. Essentially it looks like Nucras tessellata with the bright orange tail but the front of the lizard is dramatically different. The base colour is deep black, so black that it appears like soft velvet. Interspersed in this black are green blotches - a beautiful exceedingly bright luminous lightish green. Overall a magnificent creature and rather rediculuously fast. I had no idea what it was when I saw it approaching from a way a away as it moved like lightning, then stopped, then moved again. We saw it late afternoon. Since then we saw another - a visiting volunteer spotted it, and claims it looks exactly like Nucras tessellata in Johan Marais's book (but then I see various other species with only minor changes in the colour pattern - holubi? ornata?) Any information on this amazing creature would be much appreciated. Is the green and black version known to you? I do hope so, it will not be easy to spot again....

Kind regards

Greg Laws
+267 7252 7321

[Greg Laws]

Me again, my apologies. One big mistake, I have no idea why I said luminous green, my wife confirms it was definitely luminous yellow on the deep black. I am also told by the volunteer that the other species that looks like tessellata has been seen quite a few times near the farm house. The black and yellow version we have only seen once although we don't go to that pan that often

[Westley Price]

Hi Greg

A picture would be best. Nucras are quite variable in colour and pattern, so without a picture it would be hard to hazard a guess at species.

[Chopper 1]

Have you looked at the juvinile pics of the scrub lizards??

[Sico]

Heliobolus lugubris that I took pics of in your area earlier this year, in various stages of growth and colouration from juvenile to adult.