NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Bluetail Scrub Lizard
Nucras caesicaudata Broadley, 1972
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Nucras caesicaudata, the bluetailed sandveld lizard or bluetail scrub lizard, is a wall lizard in the family of true lizards (Lacertidae). It is found in southern Mozambique, southwestern Zimbabwe and the extreme northeast of South Africa. The lizard can clearly be distinguished because of its distinctive blue tail. Little has been discovered about its anatomy and way of life as it is rarely encountered, but it lives in the sandveld, a dry, sandy, savanna ecoregion.
Wikipedia contributors, Nucras caesicaudata; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:31:53.645270+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Nucras caesicaudata Broadley, 1972
- Name authority
- Broadley, 1972
- Common name
- Bluetail Scrub Lizard
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Lacertidae
- Genus
- Nucras
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderAutarchoglossa
- familyLacertidae
- genusNucras
- speciesNucras caesicaudata Broadley, 1972
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Nucras. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Spotted Sandveld LizardNucras intertexta (Smith, 1838) | LacertidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Delalande's Sandveld LizardNucras lalandii (Milne-Edwards, 1829) | LacertidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Karoo Sandveld LizardNucras livida (Smith, 1838) | LacertidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ornate Sandveld LizardNucras ornata (Gray, 1864) | LacertidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Lambert’s Bay Sandveld LizardNucras aurantiaca Bauer, Childers, Broeckhoven & Mouton, 2019 | LacertidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Angolan Sandveld LizardNucras broadleyi Branch, Conradie, Vaz-Pinto & Tolley, 2019 | LacertidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Nucras margaritae Bauer, Childers & Burger, 2025 | LacertidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Boulenger’s scrub lizardNucras boulengeri Neumann, 1900 | LacertidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Holub’s Sandveld LizardNucras holubi (Steindachner, 1882) | LacertidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Scaled Sandveld LizardNucras scalaris Laurent, 1964 | LacertidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Albany Sandveld LizardNucras taeniolata (Smith, 1838) | LacertidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Striped Sandveld LizardNucras tessellata (Smith, 1838) | LacertidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Nucras&species=caesicaudata Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:482PD. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.