10 of Africa’s Most Interesting Reptiles

In Africa, land of Big Five safaris, furry mammals typically get all the attention. But if you look closer, you’ll discover that the continent is home to more than antelope, big cats, and gigantic herbivores. Here, you can encounter some of the world’s most interesting reptiles, from monstrous crocodiles to “hairy” snakes – and even the world’s largest sea turtle.

With their gnashing teeth, armour-like scales, and cold-blooded biology, these reptiles contribute to African ecosystems in ways that often go unnoticed to all but the most eagle-eyed safari-goers. We’ve put together a list of our top ten favourites so that next time you’re on safari, you’ll discover a whole new world of wildlife. Let’s dive in and explore 10 of Africa’s most interesting reptiles.

1. Hairy Bush Viper

Yes, you read that correctly. The hairy bush viper gets its name from the elongated scales that cover its body, giving it a shaggy look that seems more fitting for a porcupine than a snake. These scales reach their maximum length around the snake’s head and neck, and depending on your affinity for snakes, they make it look either really adorable – or even more terrifying.

As a member of the viper family, the hairy bush viper possesses neurotoxic venom that it uses to hunt small mammals, amphibians, birds, and even other reptiles. And, even though bites on humans are rare, the venom has the potential to be fatal. In the areas where it lives in Central and East Africa, humans rarely come across this spiky nocturnal serpent.

It grows to a maximum length of 73 cm, placing it somewhere between the titanic gaboon viper and short Katanga Mountain bush viper in size. Because it’s not particularly heavy, it can climb reeds, stalks, and stems to get to its prey, gripping smooth surfaces with its pointy scales.

2. Leatherback Sea Turtle

When you picture a turtle, you probably see a shell, right? Well, believe it or not, the world’s largest turtle – and also the world’s largest non-crocodilian – doesn’t have a shell at all. Instead, the gigantic leatherback turtle has soft, leathery skin where its hard carapace should be, covering a network of oily flesh and bony osteoderms that provide rigidity.

The leatherback can grow up to 2.2 m long and weigh as much as 700 kg, despite starting life as a 46 g hatchling. Even though it has a soft exterior layer, the turtle can resist bites from large predators. The osteoderms are linked by flexible tissue, allowing them to resist cracking. This is especially important when you consider that the leatherback turtle hunts jellyfish at depths of up to 1,200 m, where hydrostatic pressure places immense strain on the reptile’s body.

The leathery back isn’t the only interesting thing about this turtle. It lacks teeth, but has backward-facing spines in its throat that prevent its gelatinous prey from escaping once caught. And, unlike other reptiles, it doesn’t use a high resting metabolism to generate body heat. Instead, it simply stays active at all times, spending as little as 0.1% of the day resting.

In Africa, you can find the leatherback turtle in waters spanning from the Mediterranean Sea in the northwest to Kenya and Tanzania in the northeast. They typically prefer colder waters, where jellyfish are abundant. Famous breeding sites include iSimangaliso Wetland Park in South Africa and Mayumba National Park in Gabon.

3. Speckled Padloper

You’ve met the world’s largest turtle – now meet its smallest tortoise. South Africa’s speckled padloper is officially the smallest tortoise on the planet, reaching a maximum length of 10 cm and a weight of just 165 g. That means the largest leatherback turtle weighs over 4,000 times more than the speckled padloper!

This tiny tortoise makes its life in a small part of Namaqualand in South Africa, where it eats tiny succulent plants and looks for mates. It gets its name from the tiny speckles that dot its body, while padloper is the Afrikaans word for tortoise. Directly translated, it means “road walker”, and sadly, the biggest threat to this tiny reptile is road traffic. It’s illegal to trade in collected specimens, but black market poachers remove many of them from their environment each year – even though it’s incredibly difficult to keep them in captivity.

When they mate, speckled padlopers nod their heads at each other in a kind of dance, and after mating, the female lays tiny eggs in any damp soil it can find. When they hatch, the young weigh just seven grams!

4. Nile Crocodile

The lion might be the king of the jungle, and leopards might be strong enough to drag antelope up trees, but Africa’s largest predator is the prehistoric-looking Nile crocodile. It’s a familiar sight on safari, ranging all the way from the Olifants River in South Africa to the southernmost rivers of Egypt.

When it comes to sheer size, these immense reptiles put other African predators to shame. The largest recorded specimen weighed as much as 1,089 kg and was 6.45 m long. For reference, Africa’s largest terrestrial mammalian predator, the lion, reaches a maximum weight of 225 kg.

It’s no surprise, then, that the Nile crocodile is an apex predator feared by humans and animals alike. Perhaps the most iconic example of its predatory prowess is the annual Great Wildebeest Migration in Kenya and Tanzania, where countless crocs ambush wildebeest, zebra, and antelope as they attempt to make dangerous river crossings to reach fresh grass.

When hunting, it lies just under the surface of the water, with only its eyes and nostrils sticking out. It then lunges at unsuspecting prey with remarkable speed, biting down with one of the strongest bite forces of any animal on Earth. It will usually try to drown its prey before wildly thrashing it side to side to rip off chunks of flesh. Even big cats know to keep their distance, because crocodiles will eat virtually any animal that strays too close to them. You should, too – Nile crocodiles attack hundreds of people in Africa each year.

5. Madagascar Giant Day Gecko

Not all geckos are tiny. Take the Madagascar giant day gecko, for instance. This bright green tree climber grows to 28 cm long, making it one of the longest geckos in Africa. Especially when they’re younger, these geckos have red spots along the back, with distinctive red stripes under the eyes. Amazingly, they can turn a darker shade of green when stressed, adding to their already impressive colouration.

As the name suggests, the Madagascar giant day gecko is endemic to Madagascar. However, it has been introduced to the nearby islands of Mauritius and Reunion, where it competes with other similar Phelsuma species. In fact, as a result of its size and aggressive temperament, researchers believe that it could have adverse effects on these islands’ biodiversity.

Being day geckos, they’re active mainly during daylight hours, hunting small invertebrates and lapping up sweet fruit, nectar, and pollen. Their bright colouration makes them stand out when they’re perched on tree trunks, but once they dash into the foliage, it’s virtually impossible to spot them.

Like many other geckos, they lack eyelids and use their long, sticky tongues to keep their eyes clean and moist. And, more disturbingly, they’ve been known to eat their own young.

6. Jackson’s Chameleon

Among reptiles, chameleons are the ultimate stealth hunters. Famously, they can change colour to blend into their surroundings, where they sit and wait until an insect comes too close. Then, in the blink of an eye, they can shoot their sticky tongues out to capture their prey.

In the case of Jackson’s chameleon, also known as the three-horned chameleon, its tongue is around one and a half to two times its bodylength. This large chameleon gets its name from its Triceratops-like horns that protrude from its face, giving it a particularly aggressive appearance. Only males have three horns, but surprisingly, they almost never use them for fighting. Instead, they fight for dominance using colour displays and aggressive posturing.

Jackson’s chameleon lives in wooded areas in large parts of Kenya and one small region in Tanzania. However, like many chameleons that are popular in the exotic pet trade, it’s become an invasive species, especially in Hawaii.

Chameleons have an array of pigments in their skin. Underneath, special cells containing guanine crystals enable it to change colour. Scientists believe that chameleons actively “tune” these crystals to change the way light reflects off them, but so far, that’s about all we know. If you spot one on safari in Kenya, it’ll probably be bright green – but any change in mood, ambient temperature, or health can cause it to change colour in an instant.

7. Armadillo Girdled Lizard

In ancient mythology, the ouroboros was a magical dragon or snake depicted eating its own tail. Depending on who you ask, the symbol represents the eternal cycle of death and rebirth, fertility, or the reincarnation of souls. However, as is so often the case, art imitates life.

Meet the armadillo girdled lizard, also known as Ouraborus caraphractus, a real-life tail-eater. When this lizard encounters danger in its habitat along the West Coast of South Africa, it rolls into a ball and grabs its tail with its mouth, transforming into an unpalatable, thorny bundle. Three-banded armadillos, which are armoured mammals from the Americas, do the same thing, hence the name.

This is no dragon, though. The armadillo girdled lizard is just 9 cm long and eats small invertebrates like spiders, insects, and its favourite prey, termites. It’s active during the day and lives in surprisingly large groups, with up to 60 lizards in a single “clan”.

8. Augrabies Flat Lizard

If your southern African safari takes you to the wonder of Augrabies Falls along the Orange River, you might just witness one of nature’s most acrobatic lizards. Here, in the arid Northern Cape of South Africa, Augrabies Falls is a welcome rush of fresh water. At its peak, up to 7,800 cubic metres of water per second plummets down the 40 m high rock face, bringing moisture to a desolate landscape. For reference, not even Niagara Falls has such a high record flow rate.

This massive cascade supports all kinds of life, including swarms of black flies – and the Augrabies flat lizards that feast on them. However, it’s the way that the lizards hunt flies that makes them so interesting. They acrobatically leap up into the air with their mouths open, snapping them shut mid-air to catch as many flies as possible. At times, you can see dozens of them jumping in sequence. You can see Sir David Attenborough watching this entertaining behaviour in the video below:

These little reptiles grow to a maximum length of around 8 cm, and while females have colouration that blends into the dusty landscape, males are a combination of bright blue, yellow, orange, and tan. Unfortunately for the males, while this definitely gets the females’ attention, it also marks them as easy targets for predators like rock kestrels.

9. Southern African Rock Python

There are few things as terrifying – or awe-inspiring – as a fully-grown python. You can find these enormous snakes in Africa, Asia, and Australia, and they’re usually considered apex predators. Unlike venomous snakes, pythons constrict their prey using their incredibly strong muscles. Despite popular belief, they don’t suffocate their prey – most prey animals die of cardiac arrest.

Like some of its Asian cousins, the Southern African rock python is one of the largest snakes in the world, growing to a maximum length and weight of 5 m and 53 kg, respectively. It’s so big, in fact, that some have speculated that it’s the original inspiration for the Grootslang, a legendary shapeshifting serpent that’s alleged to live in a deep cave in the Richtersveld.

But aside from their size and hunting method, what else makes these titanic serpents so interesting? Well, they can completely unhinge their lower jaws, allowing them to swallow prey as large as antelopes whole. The brown and black snake looks similar to its close relative, the Central African rock python, but it’s a bit drabber and has slightly different markings on its head.

10. Black Mamba

Last, but certainly not least, meet Africa’s most feared snake: the black mamba. Around the world, this legendary reptile strikes fear into the hearts of explorers, and for good reason. Its potent neurotoxic venom is responsible for an alarmingly high mortality rate in humans, and although bites are relatively uncommon, the black mamba’s aggression and irritability make it incredibly dangerous.

The black mamba can deliver up to 400 mg of venom in one attack, which can include multiple strikes. Its bites don’t typically result in necrosis or swelling, so at first, attacks can seem inconspicuous. However, the venom can knock down a human adult in just 45 minutes, and if the correct antivenom isn’t administered in time, death can occur in as little as seven hours.

Interestingly, the black mamba isn’t black, but instead gets its name from the colour of the inside of its mouth. It’s Africa’s longest venomous snake, growing to a maximum of 4.5 m. You can find it across much of sub-Saharan Africa, spending its time both on the ground and in trees. If you see one on safari, keep your distance – they’ll only attack if they feel cornered or threatened.

Africa is home to thousands of reptile species, and this list represents just a taste of their interesting habits and characteristics. From the potent venom of the black mamba to the sheer bite force of the Nile crocodile, some reptiles instill terror among locals and visitors alike. On the other hand, Jackson’s chameleon and the Augrabies flat lizard bring a bit of whimsical entertainment to the world of African reptiles.

Either way, there’s so much to see and learn about these creatures if you just take the time to look for them. They may not be as conspicuous as elephants and lions, but they’re no less remarkable. So, on your next African safari, take a moment to bask in the sun and seek out some of the continent’s underrated cold-blooded critters.