Females and juveniles are black and have three light cream stripes, which are yellow on the head, running down the lizard's back.

Adult males have a yellow head and a dark red body with several large, whitish spots anteriorly.

The emperor flat lizard's range is northeastern Zimbabwe and the adjacent part of Mozambique.

A large male emperor flat lizard and several attendant females command the tops of huge boulders on hills, where they feed on beetles, grubs, and ants.

Emperor flat lizards have been documented living up to fourteen years.