The "girdle" in this lizard's name refers to the thick, bony-plated scales that cover its skin in regular overlapping rows. The scales protect the animal as it crawls through the boulders and crevices of the rocky mountain slopes where it lives. The lizard has an usual way to avoid predators: when it feels threatened, it enters a gap in the rocks and then inflates its body. This wedges it inside, safely out of reach of attackers. Girdled lizards bear their young live rather than laying eggs, giving birth to one to six large babies in late summer.