Category: Americas and Eurasia and Africa

Meroles anchietae – the shovel-snouted lizard – is endemic to the Namib Desert’s dunes.

Its signature behaviours – “dancing” atop the sand’s surface on a hot day, and diving into the cooler sand, below – are adaptations developed in order to survive an imminent, lethal threat.

As illustrated in #27 of this series, we were lucky enough to witness its astonishingly speedy sand-diving – a feat in which the key factor is its “shovel”.

Just inland from Swakopmund, and only a few kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean, the afternoon of 19 November 2022 was cool.

Accordingly, whilst our hero did deploy his “shovel” snout in order to escape predators/us, he did not need to dance!

Palmatogecko rangei  (aka Pachydactylus rangei) is petite – less than 7cm long.

Endemic to the Namib desert, this dune-dwelling hunter of small invertebrates is commonly known as the “Namib sand gecko”, or the (Namib) “web-footed gecko”

Its skin is almost translucent, but exquisitely coloured.

Relative to its body, its feet are very big; its eyes are HUGE.

This post stars the very same species – and, I think, the same individual – as did the featured image in this series’ immediately-preceding chapter.

I took this post’s photo at 3.56 pm on 19 November 2022.

Q: why was this usually-stealthy snake out in the open, on a relatively rare patch of rockier/more gravelly ground?