Wildlife
Since emerging from water millions of years ago, lizards have diversified into a weird and wonderful group of cold-blooded reptiles. From the mesmerising colours of the agamas to the vibrant adornments of frilled lizards and the sheer size of the king of monitor lizards, the Komodo dragon, lizards come in many shapes and sizes. Explore the links below to discover why chameleons change colour, why geckos and skinks lose body parts and how glorious slow motion film reveals the Jesus lizard's ability to walk on water. Watch ground-breaking videos from Life in Cold Blood, Planet Earth, Galapagos and other series as they unveil the fascinating lives of lizards.
Scientific name: Lacertilia
Rank: Suborder
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Changing colour
A lizard changes colour from dark to light it becomes the coolest creature under the sun.
A lizard changes colour from dark to light it becomes the coolest creature under the sun.
Desert kings
Low energy lizards are virtually drought proof so there are millions of them in Australia's deserts.
The low-energy lifestyle of lizards means that they are very successful in the desert. They can survive on far less food and water than birds or mammals.
Warm up
Marine iguanas heat up before a swim.
Camera technologies such as thermal imaging have allowed filmmakers to explore and explain the natural world by showing us what the naked eye can't see. Here, the thermal image reveals the changing body temperature of marine iguanas. As they bask in the sun, the image turns from cool purple to warm golden yellow - a visual representation of the power source behind these reptiles' cold-blooded existence.
Running on water
Ultra-slow motion shows the Jesus Christ lizard's novel escape technique.
The basilisk lizard isn’t also called the Jesus Christ lizard for nothing. When threatened, this unique reptile takes to the waters of Belize and moves its long-toed feet so fast that it can – quite literally – run on water. Miracle of nature? You decide...
Lizard evolution
Lizards came out of the water, but now they dominate the deserts.
Lizards came out of the water, but now they dominate the deserts.
The shading illustrates the diversity of this group - the darker the colour the greater the number of species. Data provided by WWF's Wildfinder.
Agamid lizards
Slow worm (species)
Chameleons
Broadley's flat lizard (species)
Brown basilisk (species)
Geckos
Iguanas
Wall lizards
Shingleback skink (species)
Monitor Lizards (genus)Learn more about the other animals and plants that also form these fossils.
AmberLizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with more than 5600 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group, traditionally recognized as the suborder Lacertilia, is defined as all extant members of the Lepidosauria (reptiles with overlapping scales) that are neither sphenodonts (i.e., tuatara) nor snakes – they form an evolutionary grade. While the snakes are recognized as falling phylogenetically within the Toxicofera clade from which they evolved, the sphenodonts are the sister group to the squamates, the larger monophyletic group, which includes both the lizards and the snakes.
Lizards typically have feet and external ears, while snakes lack both of these characteristics. However, because they are defined negatively as excluding snakes, lizards have no unique distinguishing characteristic as a group. Lizards and snakes share a movable quadrate bone, distinguishing them from the sphenodonts, which have more primitive and solid diapsid skulls. Many lizards can detach their tails to escape from predators, an act called autotomy, but this ability is not shared by all lizards. Vision, including color vision, is particularly well developed in most lizards, and most communicate with body language or bright colors on their bodies, as well as with pheromones.
The adult length of species within the suborder ranges from a few centimeters for chameleons such as Brookesia micra and geckos such as Sphaerodactylus ariasae to nearly 3 m (9.8 ft) in the case of the largest living varanid lizard, the Komodo dragon. Some extinct varanids reached great size. The extinct aquatic mosasaurs reached 17 m (56 ft), and the giant monitor Megalania is estimated to have reached perhaps 7 m (23 ft).
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Life in slow motion
Slow motion filming techniques transform amazing wildlife moments into full scale events, and simple action into incredibly detailed video sequences.
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