A field Study of Two Sympatric ‘Annual’ Lizards (Genus Ichnotropis) in Rhodesia

Abstract

A fourteen-month marking/recapture study of the sympatric lacertids Ichnotropis squamulosa and I. capensis (Sauria.Lacertidae) was carried out at Zimunya township near Umtali. This confirmed that these lizards have staggered life cycles and that individuals rarely live for more than 12 months, thus reducing competition for food between similar-sized lizards of the two species.