A robustly-built lizard with well-developed limbs and tail, and a lateral fold of skin that runs from the base of the neck along the length of the flank. The body is dark brown, irregularly patterned along the back and sides with small cream and black spots. In some cases spotting is so dense that the animal appears blackish. Two thick cream stripes run along the sides of the dorsum from just behind the head to the tail. These stripes are widest behind the head, becoming narrower towards the tail. In some cases, the stripes may become broken into a line of spots beyond mid-body; the row of spots continues on to the tail. Head colouration is a lighter brown than the ground colour, and some animals may have a red throat.