A large, stout plated lizard, with a short head and large eyes.
Lower eyelid is covered with small scales and there are rough scales on the head.
Scales on the back have pronounced keels and the soles of the feet are covered with slightly keeled scales. The chin and throat are usually yellow or cream, and the underside is grey to light brown. Both sexes have 9-13 femoral pores. Savanna and steppe areas of eastern and southeastern Africa, from Ethiopia to South Africa and to Togo in the west. Feeds on soft fruits and flowers, beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars, and millipedes.