Lizards are considered weird yet really adaptive animals. But how many things do we know about the lizards?
Well, we are about to learn more about the lizards!
- Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles.
- There are over 4,675 species of lizard, according to the San Diego Zoo.
- Others sources mention there are about 6,000 species.
- They range across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains.
- The group is paraphyletic as it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia.
- Some lizards are more closely related to these two excluded groups than they are to other lizards.
- Lizards range in size from chameleons and geckos a few centimeters long to the 3 meter long Komodo dragon.
- Most lizards are quadrupedal, running with a strong side-to-side motion.
- Others are legless, and have long snake-like bodies.
- Some such as the forest-dwelling Draco lizards are able to glide.
- They are often territorial.
- The males are fighting off other males and signalling, often with brightly colours, to attract mates and to intimidate rivals.
- Lizards are mainly carnivorous, often being sit-and-wait predators.
- Many smaller species eat insects, while the Komodo eats mammals as big as water buffalo.
- Lizards make use of a variety of antipredator adaptations, including venom, camouflage, reflex bleeding, and the ability to sacrifice and regrow their tails.
- Some lizards live in trees.
- Others prefer to live in vegetation on the ground, while others live in deserts among rocks.
- For example, the Texas horned lizard is found in the warm areas with little plant cover in southern North America.
- The northern fence lizard, on the other hand, likes to live in cool pine forests in northern North America.
- Lizards are cold-blooded animals.
- That means they rely on their environment to help warm their bodies.
- They use the heat of the sun to raise their body temperatures and are active when their bodies are warm.
- The sun also helps lizards produce vitamin D.
- Their days are spent sun-bathing on rocks, hunting for food or waiting for food to come their way.
- Some lizards can easily live with dozens of other lizards of many different species.
- They are not social animals though.
- A lizard’s scaly skin does not grow as the animal ages.
- Most lizards shed their skin, or molt, in large flakes.
- Lizards also have the ability to break off part of their tails when a predator grabs it.
- Also, their skin usually changes color according to the environment they are located to, as a form of adaptivity.
- This also helps them protect themselves from their predators.
- Lizards eat ants, spiders, termites, cicadas, small mammals and even other lizards.
- Caiman lizards eat animals with shells, such as snails.
- Other lizards are omnivores, which means they eat vegetation and meat.
- One example of an omnivore lizard is Clark’s spiny lizard.
- These lizards like fruits, leaves and vegetables.
- Iguana, which lives in the Galapagos Islands, eats algae from the sea.
- Iguanas and spiny-tailed agamids also eat plants.
- Many lizards lay eggs while others bear live young.
- For example, frilled lizards lay eight to 23 eggs, according to National Geographic
- The gestation for a lizard egg can last up to 12 months.
- Most baby lizards are self-sufficient from birth and are able to walk, run and feed on their own.
- The young reach maturity at 18 months to 7 years, depending on the species.
- Some lizards can live up to 50 years.
- The green basilisk lizard can run on water at about 5 feet (1.5 m) per second for 15 feet (4.5 m), or more according to National Geographic.
- Their special feet give them more surface area to hold them up and as they run, they create air bubbles that keep them afloat.
- Chameleons’ tongues are longer than their bodies.
- Also, their eyes can look in two different directions at once.
- You can shine a light in a banded gecko’s ear and the light will come out the other side, according to the American Museum of Natural History.
- Two species — the Mexican beaded lizard of western Mexico and the Gila monster of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, are venomous, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
- Frill neck lizards have a large, round collar of skin that pops up when they are trying to intimidate attackers.
- Lizards do have eyelids.
- They can actually move them very easily and voluntarily.
- This is one of the few difference between lizards, and the snakes. In general, these animals don’t have many differences.
- Many types of lizards do not need to be close to water in order to survive.
- This happens because they often absorb all the water they need from their food.
- Some lizard species have a really harsh bite.
- The Komodo dragon is the only type of lizard which is dangerous to humans and which is capable of causing death to them.
- Komodo lizards lives in Indonesia.
- It can grow up to 10 feet in length, and one bite from this type of lizard is enough to kill a human.