On the way between my bungalow and breakfast, I saw several of these small lizards scurrying about from bush to bush. I first thought they were young Zonosaurus, but the proportions didn't seem quite right, and the flighty motions reminded me more of North American whiptail lizards than the more slithery young Zonosaurus I had seen in the past. After I took a few shots, I zoomed in on a photo on my camera's viewscreen and could see the keels on the dorsal scales that are a sure-fire way to distinguish Tracheloptychus from Zonosaurus.

There are two species of Tracheloptychus, and both can be found close to this spot. But they are distinguishable by the stripe pattern and to a lesser extent snout shape, so I am confident that these are all T. madagascariensis.

"Madagascar Keeled Cordylid" is a particularly silly common name, since all Tracheloptychus are found only in Madagascar, and all Tracheloptychus have keeled scales, and Tracheloptychus are not in the family Cordylidae. (Some authorities put them in that family at some point in the past.)

Here is a list of all the reptiles and frogs I saw on this 2023 trip to Madagascar.