50 free Lizard trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
46 free lizard trivia questions with answers. There are more than 7,000 species of lizard, and this quiz gets around a good many of them. Forty-six questions cover the Komodo dragon's venomous bite, how a chameleon really changes colour, why geckos can walk on glass, the Gila monster's role in a diabetes drug, the basilisk that sprints across rivers, the thorny devil that drinks through its skin, marine iguanas that sneeze salt, and the slow worm that everyone mistakes for a snake. Easy questions ask which lizard is the biggest and where Komodo dragons live; the hard ones want the number of setae on a gecko's foot, the drug made from Gila monster saliva and the record age of a slow worm at Copenhagen Zoo. Good for animal lovers, classrooms and anyone who has ever kept a bearded dragon. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the species involved, and each question carries the sentence that supports it.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Roughly how many lizard species are there?
Over 7,000
That makes lizards far more diverse than snakes, which have around 4,000 species.
Q 02What is the largest living lizard?
Komodo dragon
Males reach about 3 metres and 150 kilograms.
Q 03The world's largest lizard is native to islands in which country?
Indonesia
It lives on Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Dasami and Gili Motang, and a national park was created in 1980 to protect it.
Q 04Roughly how heavy can a male of the world's largest lizard get?
150 kg
The diet of adults is mostly Javan rusa deer and feral pigs, plus plenty of carrion.
Q 05From how far away can the world's largest lizard detect carrion with its forked tongue?
Up to 9.5 km
The tongue collects scent particles that are read by the Jacobson's organ in the roof of the mouth.
Q 06In what year did Western scientists first record the world's largest lizard?
1910
Wider fame came in 1912 through Peter Ouwens of the Zoological Museum of Bogor, and the common name was coined by W. Douglas Burden.
Q 07Flora, a giant lizard at Chester Zoo, made headlines for laying viable eggs despite what?
Never having met a male
Parthenogenesis, reproduction from unfertilised eggs, is known in several lizard groups.
Q 08Until 2006, which two lizards were thought to be the only venomous ones?
Gila monster and Mexican beaded lizard
Researchers then found that several monitor lizards, including the Komodo dragon, produce venom in their salivary glands too.
Q 09The Gila monster is the only venomous lizard native to which country?
The United States
It ranges through the Southwest and into the Mexican state of Sonora, and is named for the Gila River basin.
Q 10A protein from Gila monster venom led to which type-2 diabetes drug, approved in 2005?
Exenatide (Byetta)
It is a synthetic version of exendin-4, first isolated from the lizard's saliva.
Q 11In 1952 the Gila monster became the first what to receive legal protection?
Venomous animal
Three or four big meals in spring can fuel it for a whole season, thanks to fat stored in its tail.
Q 12Geckos stick to walls using millions of tiny setae that exploit which force?
Van der Waals forces
No liquid adhesive is needed, which is why the trick works on dry glass.
Q 13Approximately how many setae are packed into each square millimetre of a gecko's footpad?
About 14,000
About 60% of gecko species have adhesive toepads; the popular leopard gecko is not one of them.
Q 21The common basilisk's nickname 'Jesus Christ lizard' refers to its ability to do what?
Run across water
It sprints on its hind legs at about 24 km/h, and juveniles can cover 10 to 20 metres before sinking.
Q 22The basilisk lizard's name comes from a Greek word meaning what?
Little king
The mythical basilisk was a monster made from parts of a rooster, a snake and a lion.
Q 23Horned lizards defend themselves against dogs and cats by squirting what from near their eyes?
A stream of blood
The stream can travel about 1.5 metres and tastes disgusting to canine and feline attackers.
Q 14Geckos are unique among lizards for what ability?
Vocalising
The word gecko itself comes from tokek, imitating the call of species like the tokay gecko.
Q 15How do most geckos, which lack eyelids, keep their eyes clean?
They lick them
The transparent scale over the eye is called a brille, and a quick lick clears the dust off it.
Q 16The largest living gecko, Rhacodactylus leachianus, comes from which Pacific territory?
New Caledonia
The same islands were home to the extinct Delcourt's giant gecko, which was about 60 cm long.
Q 17About half of all chameleon species are found only on which island?
Madagascar
About 200 species have been described, from the 22 mm Brookesia nana to Furcifer oustaleti at nearly 70 cm.
Q 18Chameleon iridophores produce structural colour with nanocrystals of what?
Guanine
The lattice spacing changes to reflect different wavelengths, and colour change is mostly social signalling rather than camouflage.
Q 19A chameleon's tongue can shoot out how far relative to its body?
More than twice its length
Because each eye moves independently, its brain is processing two separate images while it aims.
Q 20The word 'chameleon' comes from Greek words meaning what?
Ground lion
Khamai means 'on the ground' and leon means 'lion'.
Q 24The horned lizard's diet is built mostly around which insects?
Harvester ants
The 'horny toad' is the state reptile of Texas and, as the TCU Horned Frog, a college mascot.
Q 25Which species did the Lone Star State designate its official reptile in 1993?
Texas horned lizard
Wyoming's state reptile is a relative, the greater short-horned lizard, known locally as the 'horn toad'.
Q 26The thorny devil of the outback drinks how?
Through channels in its skin
Its ridged scales move water by capillary action, so touching a puddle with a foot is enough.
Q 27What does the thorny devil carry on the back of its neck to fool predators?
A false head
It dips its real head and presents the spiny decoy; the lizard eats thousands of ants a day.
Q 28The thorny devil's scientific name is Moloch horridus. Roughly how long does it grow?
Up to 21 cm
Females are generally larger than males, unusual among lizards.
Q 29The marine iguana, the only lizard that forages in the sea, lives only on which islands?
The Galápagos
Charles Darwin called them 'most disgusting, clumsy Lizards' when he saw them on the black lava rocks.
Q 30How do marine iguanas get rid of the salt they swallow while grazing on algae?
Sneezing it out
They can dive to 30 metres and stay under for up to an hour.