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Lizards are a diverse and ancient group of reptiles that inhabit around the world today . There are thousands of lizard species , and each has special adaptations and traits . There are lizards with frills , lounge lizard with horns , and lizards with backstage . Most lizards have four leg , but some get by on two legs and others have no ramification at all .
The name " lizard " does n’t correspond to a single scientific mathematical group . Lizards go to the fiat Squamata , which they deal with snakes . There are several subgroups within Squamata that are commonly called lizards , let in geckos , iguana , worm lizards and Autarchoglossa , concord to theIntegrated Taxonomic Information System(ITIS ) , a partnership of North American delegacy , system and taxonomists that provide taxonomic information . All lizards are sometimes group under the suborder Lacertilia or Sauria , but ITIS does n’t consider these to be valid scientific groups .
The largest lizards are Komodo dragons from Indonesia.
Are lizards dinosaurs?
Though they are reptiles , lizards are notdinosaurs . Body plan , and therefore movement , is a key difference between the two group . lizard ' legs are sprawled out , and they take the air in a side - to - side motion . Dinosaurs , on the other hand , had an good stance with their legs place underneath them , fit in to theAmerican Museum of Natural Historyin New York .
Kingdom : animal kingdom
Phylum : Chordata
A frilled lizard in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Class : Amphibia
monastic order : Squamata
Source : ITIS
A marine iguana swimming underwater.
Lizards have been around for 100 of millions of years and lived through multiplemass extinctionevents , including the asteroid strike that caused the extinguishing of nonavian dinosaurs 66 million years ago ( though avian dinosaurs survive as fowl ) . Lizards likely predate the dinosaurs , which first come forth about 230 million age ago during the Triassic time period ( 251.9 million to 201.3 million years ago ) .
" Based on a new estimate of the rate ofevolutionof lizards , we can now place the pedigree of these reptiles in the late Permian period , about 260 million years ago , " Alessandro Palci , a enquiry associate in evolutionarybiologyat Flinders University in Australia , spell inThe Conversationin 2018 .
Related:‘Strange beast ' in amber is a very uncanny lizard
Types of lizards
lizard add up in a variety of shapes , sizes and colors . The largest and heaviest lizards are Komodo tartar ( Varanus komodoensis ) from Indonesia . They matter 154 lb ( 70 kilograms ) , on middling , and the largest Komodo dragon on platter reached 10.3 foot long ( 3.1 meters ) , according to theSmithsonian ’s National Zooin Washington , D.C.
It ’s cleared that Komodo dragons are the biggest lizards . Because the smallest lizard are so tiny , however , it ’s harder for scientists to be sure which species is the small . Jaragua lizards ( Sphaerodactylus ariasae ) in the Caribbean held the record for the smallest lizard onEarthwhen they were draw in a 2001 study published in theCaribbean Journal of Science . With an average body length of 0.6 in ( 16 millimeters ) , exclude the fanny , the lizards were also smaller than any known hiss or mammal at the fourth dimension .
But a contender arrived for their tiny jacket crown in 2021 , when a chamaeleon calledBrookesia nanain Madagascar was describe in a study published in the journalScientific Reports . B. nanamales are small thanS. ariasae , growing to only about 0.5 inch ( 13.5 mm ) . However , the females of this species are longer than Jaragua lizard , at 0.75 column inch ( 19.2 mm ) .
" Given that the worldwide organic structure architectural plan of reptiles is rather similar to that of mammal and humans , it is fascinating to see how miniaturized these organisms and their organs can get , " lead field of study author Frank Glaw , a herpetologist at the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in Munich , told Live Science in an e-mail at the meter .
Size is n’t the only feature of speech that makes some lounge lizard species stand out . member of theDracogenus are often called " flyingdragons " because they glide from Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree to Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree in Southeast Asia using a thin tissue layer that stretches between their front and back legs like a pair of two-dimensional wings . Meanwhile , basilisk lizards in the genusBasiliscusfrom Central and South America run so fast on their hind branch that they can run on water , with the aid of specialized foot plate . They do this to escape predatory animal , and it ’s earn them the byname " Jesus Christlizard , " according to theSmithsonian ’s National Zoo .
If lizard are nabbed by a marauder , they can break off or " dip " their tails to keep off being eaten . They can regrow their tails if this happens , but the new keister are n’t unadulterated copy . The bones in the original tail do n’t develop back , so the newfangled butt are mostly cartilage , according to a 2015 study write in the journalDevelopmental Biology .
relate : World ’s small reptile fit on your fingertip
Where do lizards live?
Lizards live all over the world and concern all variety of habitats . For example , in North America , Texas horned lizards ( Phrynosoma cornutum ) spend a lot of their time in loose litoral in loose , desiccated or semiarid areas of northerly Mexico and the south central U.S. , including most of Texas — hence their name , according to theTexas Parks and Wildlife Department . In contrast , easterly fence lizards ( Sceloporus undulatus ) tend to hold up in area with trees . Ranging as far north as New York , as far south as northerly Florida , and as far Mae West as Arkansas , these lizards use the Tree to break loose predators such as ophidian and birds , according to theNational Wildlife Federation .
Some lounge lizard , such as basilisk lizards , spend a lot of their clock time in and around water . Lizards usually make use of freshwater habitats , but marine iguanas ( Amblyrhynchus cristatus ) from the Galápagos Islands plunge into the sea to feed off algae , fit in to theNatural History Museumin London .
Lizards are ectothermic , which think they bank on the outside environs to stick around affectionate and ca n’t regulate their own bodytemperatureas endothermic animate being , such as mammals , do . This stand for that , likefrogsand Snake , they are commonly forebode " cold - full-blood . " As a termination , most lizard are combat-ready during the day and can be seen basking in thesunto warm up .
Lizards may be territorial , and they spend most of their time alone or live alongside dozens of other lounge lizard of the same or different mintage . Lizards typically do n’t spend clip with others of their species , except to mate , but there are exceptions . For example , desert night lizards ( Xantusia vigilis ) go in family radical , concord to enquiry by theUniversity of California , Santa Cruz .
What do lizards eat?
Many lizard eat other animal . Komodo dragons are capable of deplete up to 80 % of their body weight in a exclusive sitting and use up other reptiles , birds , bollock and mammals , according to theZoological Society of London . Some lizards have a much wide dieting that includes a mix of meat , insects and vegetation . For exemplar , central bearded dragons ( Pogona vitticeps ) in Australia eat yield and parting , alongside invertebrates such asantsand vertebrate such as smaller lizard , fit in to theAustralian Museumin Sydney . Then there are lizards with specialized herbivorous diets , such as the alga - exhaust marine common iguana , although they ’ve also been find eat on insects and crustacean .
Related : Watch : First - ever footage of a lizard breathing underwater
Are lizards poisonous?
lizard are n’t poisonous , or harmful when absorb , but a few coinage are poisonous , have in mind they throw in harmful venom . For object lesson , Gila monsters(Heloderma suspectum ) endure in southwestern U.S. states and northwestern Mexico habituate spitefulness to hunt target or defend themselves against predators , agree to theAmerican Museum of Natural History . A Gila monster may bite onto another animate being for several minute , channelize spitefulness through tooth grooves in its down jaw . The venom is extremely painful , but not fatal , to humans .
Do lizards lay eggs?
Many lizards lay ballock , and some give nativity to experience young . Lizard fosterage typically begin when a manlike lounge lizard tries to pull a female mate with a display , sometimes bob its head and flash its colorful cervix . Frilled lizards ( Chlamydosaurus kingii ) from northern Australia and southerly New Guinea are so name because of the frills around their necks , which they spread out during match displays or when they require to scare away predators . These lizards lay up to 23 eggs between November and February and bury them underground , agree to theNorthern Territory Governmentin Australia . In line , common lizard ( Zootoca vivipara ) , which are found across much of northern Europe , give nascence to up to 10 live untested in July , according to theWoodland Trust , a woodland preservation Greek valerian in the U.K.
Most baby lizard are self - sufficient from birth and can walk , run and feed on their own . Young lizard reach adulthood at unlike age , ranging from 18 month to 7 long time , depending on the species , according to theSan Diego Zoo . lizard ' life spans also vary greatly . Labord ’s chameleon ( Furcifer labordi ) may live only month in their native habitat of Madagascar , while other lizards can make it for ten . The longest - exist lizards , Grand Cayman patrician iguanas ( Cyclura lewisi ) of the Cayman Islands , often live more than 50 age . One intent Grand Cayman blue iguana is figure to have hold out 69 years , according toGuinness World Records .
Related : There be dragons : 6 - ft - long lizard terrifies Florida family unit
Are lizards endangered?
TheInternational Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN ) completed a comprehensive assessment of the domain ’s reptilian in 2022 and determined that 21 % of reptiles are at risk of extinguishing , include many lizards . The biggest threats to reptiles around the globe are habitat loss due to agricultural expansion , deforestationand urban growth .
Both the turgid and the smallest lizard coinage could go away in the good futurity . Komodo dragons are threaten because of threat such as residential and commercial development andclimate variety , concord to theIUCN . Meanwhile , the study author who describedB. nanain 2021 commend that the IUCN list the species as critically endangered because it lives in a small sphere that ’s shrinking due to deforestation and agricultural enlargement .
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— Frogs , toad frog , lounge lizard and bats … were determine in bagged salad
The IUCN has n’t yet assessedB. nana , but there are batch of critically endangered lizard number on the organization’swebsite , admit the Campbell ’s alligator lounge lizard ( Abronia campbelli ) from Guatemala , Bojer ’s skink ( Gongylomorphus bojerii ) from Mauritius and Atalaye curlytail lizard ( Leiocephalus pratensis ) from Haiti .
Lizards are pop in the preferent deal , which poses a threat to species that are sourced from the wild . Even lizard that are commonly breed in captivity , such as Tokay gecko ( Gekko gecko ) from Southeast Asia , are sometimes get in the wild to supply the trade , according toTRAFFIC , a wildlife trade monitoring charity in the U.K.
Additional resources
For a map of where lizards and snakes live around the world , include the U.S. , check out theEncyclopedia of Lifewebsite . To see how aDracolizard attract a fellow , watch this short YouTube video from theSmithsonian Channel . To learn more about the different lounge lizard family , check out " lounge lizard of the humans : A Guide to Every Family " ( Princeton University Press , 2021 ) .
This article was in the beginning written by Live Science contributor Alina Bradford and has since been updated .
