Although a considerable number of desert lizards have been studied, very few have been found to posses specific physiological adaptations to the desert environment. They escape the desert environment almost entirely by well defined adaptive behaviour. Old world forms of lizards however, might have exhibited more specialised adaptations. Keywords: Activity rhythms, Advective sea fog, Aeolian sand deposits, Arthropod fauna, Cardiosis fairmaixei, Climate, Distribution, Drought, Dune ecosystem, Ecology, Feeding habits, Geomorphology, Habitat, Morphology, Nutrition, Psammogaster beetle, Thermal stress, Thermoregulation, Vegetation, Water balance