Karu's Horned Lizard

The head of C. karu is oval, and is longer than wide. The rostral appendage comprises more scales than the rostral scale alone. The scales are triangular, smooth or weakly keeled. The length of the rostral appendage is less than eye-nostril distance. There are prominent superciliary scales. There is a backward-pointing V-shaped ridge at the back of the forehead. The dorsal scales are larger than the scales on the flanks. The lamellae under the fourth toe number 14–17. The dorsum is dark black-brown, and the flanks are brown or olive-green. Some specimens have bright orange-red patches on the supralabials. The throat and venter are buff or dirty white to yellowish-brown with small black patches.

C. karu is known only from Morning Side Forest Reserve and three nearby unprotected localities in Sri Lanka.

C. karu is oviparous. Two eggs are laid at a time, each measuring 8.6 mm x 5.0 mm (0.34 in x 0.2 in).

The specific name, karu, is in honor of Sri Lankan zoologist G. Punchi Banda "Karu" Karunaratne (1930–1996).