50 Fun Facts About Lizard

Roughly how many lizard species are there?

That makes lizards far more diverse than snakes, which have around 4,000 species.

What is the largest living lizard?

Males reach about 3 metres and 150 kilograms.

The world's largest lizard is native to islands in which country?

It lives on Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Dasami and Gili Motang, and a national park was created in 1980 to protect it.

Roughly how heavy can a male of the world's largest lizard get?

The diet of adults is mostly Javan rusa deer and feral pigs, plus plenty of carrion.

From how far away can the world's largest lizard detect carrion with its forked tongue?

The tongue collects scent particles that are read by the Jacobson's organ in the roof of the mouth.

In what year did Western scientists first record the world's largest lizard?

Wider fame came in 1912 through Peter Ouwens of the Zoological Museum of Bogor, and the common name was coined by W. Douglas Burden.

Flora, a giant lizard at Chester Zoo, made headlines for laying viable eggs despite what?

Parthenogenesis, reproduction from unfertilised eggs, is known in several lizard groups.

Until 2006, which two lizards were thought to be the only venomous ones?

Researchers then found that several monitor lizards, including the Komodo dragon, produce venom in their salivary glands too.

The Gila monster is the only venomous lizard native to which country?

It ranges through the Southwest and into the Mexican state of Sonora, and is named for the Gila River basin.

A protein from Gila monster venom led to which type-2 diabetes drug, approved in 2005?

It is a synthetic version of exendin-4, first isolated from the lizard's saliva.

In 1952 the Gila monster became the first what to receive legal protection?

Three or four big meals in spring can fuel it for a whole season, thanks to fat stored in its tail.

Geckos stick to walls using millions of tiny setae that exploit which force?

No liquid adhesive is needed, which is why the trick works on dry glass.

Approximately how many setae are packed into each square millimetre of a gecko's footpad?

About 60% of gecko species have adhesive toepads; the popular leopard gecko is not one of them.

Geckos are unique among lizards for what ability?

The word gecko itself comes from tokek, imitating the call of species like the tokay gecko.

How do most geckos, which lack eyelids, keep their eyes clean?

The transparent scale over the eye is called a brille, and a quick lick clears the dust off it.

The largest living gecko, Rhacodactylus leachianus, comes from which Pacific territory?

The same islands were home to the extinct Delcourt's giant gecko, which was about 60 cm long.

About half of all chameleon species are found only on which island?

About 200 species have been described, from the 22 mm Brookesia nana to Furcifer oustaleti at nearly 70 cm.

Chameleon iridophores produce structural colour with nanocrystals of what?

The lattice spacing changes to reflect different wavelengths, and colour change is mostly social signalling rather than camouflage.

A chameleon's tongue can shoot out how far relative to its body?

Because each eye moves independently, its brain is processing two separate images while it aims.

The word 'chameleon' comes from Greek words meaning what?

Khamai means 'on the ground' and leon means 'lion'.

The common basilisk's nickname 'Jesus Christ lizard' refers to its ability to do what?

It sprints on its hind legs at about 24 km/h, and juveniles can cover 10 to 20 metres before sinking.

The basilisk lizard's name comes from a Greek word meaning what?

The mythical basilisk was a monster made from parts of a rooster, a snake and a lion.

Horned lizards defend themselves against dogs and cats by squirting what from near their eyes?

The stream can travel about 1.5 metres and tastes disgusting to canine and feline attackers.

The horned lizard's diet is built mostly around which insects?

The 'horny toad' is the state reptile of Texas and, as the TCU Horned Frog, a college mascot.

Which species did the Lone Star State designate its official reptile in 1993?

Wyoming's state reptile is a relative, the greater short-horned lizard, known locally as the 'horn toad'.

The thorny devil of the outback drinks how?

Its ridged scales move water by capillary action, so touching a puddle with a foot is enough.

What does the thorny devil carry on the back of its neck to fool predators?

It dips its real head and presents the spiny decoy; the lizard eats thousands of ants a day.

The thorny devil's scientific name is Moloch horridus. Roughly how long does it grow?

Females are generally larger than males, unusual among lizards.

The marine iguana, the only lizard that forages in the sea, lives only on which islands?

Charles Darwin called them 'most disgusting, clumsy Lizards' when he saw them on the black lava rocks.

How do marine iguanas get rid of the salt they swallow while grazing on algae?

They can dive to 30 metres and stay under for up to an hour.

During El Niño food shortages, marine iguanas have been shown to do what?

They grow back to their previous size when the algae return, a trick unknown in other vertebrates.

The parietal or 'third' eye on top of an iguana's head can do what?

It has only a rudimentary retina and lens, and the tuatara of New Zealand has one too.

In January 2008, cold nights in Florida caused invasive green iguanas to do what?

The cold-stunned lizards were mostly not dead, and they can survive falls of 15 metres unhurt.

The frilled lizard's famous neck frill is spread out by movements of which structure?

The display inspired the spitting Dilophosaurus in Jurassic Park, though the real dinosaur had no such frill.

The frilled lizard is native to the top end of one continent and to which other place?

When it flees it runs on its hind legs, frill and all.

Gliding lizards of the genus Draco form their 'wings' from skin stretched over what?

Glides of 60 metres have been recorded with only 10 metres of height lost.

The slow worm, often mistaken for a snake, is actually what?

Unlike a snake it can blink, having movable eyelids, and it can drop its tail.

A slow worm at Copenhagen Zoo set the lizard longevity record by living to at least what age?

It lived at the zoo from 1892 to 1946, and its age on arrival was unknown.

Roughly what share of lizard species give birth to live young rather than laying eggs?

Most eggs have leathery shells; desert species use calcified shells to hold in water.

The all-female populations of which lizards reproduce without males?

The offspring hatch from unfertilised eggs, a process called parthenogenesis.

What is the term for a lizard deliberately shedding its tail to escape a predator?

The detached tail keeps writhing as a decoy, and some 326 genes are involved in growing a new one.

For many lizards, what decides whether an egg hatches as male or female?

Cooler incubation produces more females and warmer more males, the reverse of many turtles.

Bearded dragons, popular pets of the genus Pogona, are native to which country?

The 'beard' is the throat, which turns black and puffs up; smaller males wave an arm in submission.

The tuatara of New Zealand looks like a lizard but belongs to which separate order?

It is the last survivor of a once-diverse group, and can live well over 100 years.

Lizards are found on every continent except which one?

The oldest undisputed lizard fossils date to the Middle Jurassic.

Instead of external ears, what do lizards have on the side of the head?

The tympanic membrane sits right at the surface, unlike in mammals.

How long is the Jaragua dwarf gecko, one of the smallest known lizards?

Only the 13.5 mm nano-chameleon is smaller, while the Komodo dragon reaches 3 metres.

The oldest undisputed lizard fossils date to which geological period?

They come from Europe, Asia and North Africa; Triassic forms like Megachirella are disputed stem-squamates.

Roughly how many separate times has leglessness or limb reduction evolved among lizards?

Snakes are simply the most famous and species-rich squamates to have taken this path.

In Bantu myth, the god uNkulunkulu sent which lizard to tell humans they would live forever?

It dawdled, and another lizard arrived first with the message that human life would be limited.