lizard, a reptile reptile, name for the dry-skinned, usually scaly, cold-blooded vertebrates (see Chordata) of the order Reptilia. Reptiles are found in a variety of habitats throughout the warm and temperate regions (except on some islands), with the greatest variety in the tropics.
..... Click the link for more information. of the order Squamata, which also includes the snake snake, common name for an elongated, limbless reptile of the order Squamata, which also includes the lizards. Most snakes live on the ground, but some are burrowers, arboreal, or aquatic; one group is exclusively marine. In temperate climates they hibernate.
..... Click the link for more information. . Lizards form the suborder Sauria, and there are over 3,000 lizard species distributed throughout the world (except for the polar regions), with the greatest number found in warm climates. They range in size from species under 2 1-2 in. (6.4 cm) long to the 10-ft (3-m) Komodo dragon (see monitor monitor, any of various dragonlike, mostly tropical lizards. A monitor lizard has a heavy body, long head and neck, long tail that comes to a whiplike end, and strong legs with sharp claws. Its slender, forked tongue is protrusible.
..... Click the link for more information. ) of SE Asia.

Lizards typically have four legs with five toes on each foot, although a few, such as the worm lizard worm lizard, partially or entirely limbless burrowing lizard of the family Amphisbaenidae. All worm lizards lack hind limbs and most species lack forelimbs as well.
..... Click the link for more information. and the so-called glass snake glass snake, common name for the snakelike legless lizards of the genus Ophisaurus found in the S and central United States and in Eurasia. The shiny, scaled body is gray or greenish brown, sometimes striped above and whitish below.
..... Click the link for more information. , are limbless, retaining only internal vestiges of legs. Lizards are also distinguished from snakes by having ear openings, movable eyelids, and less flexible jaws. As in snakes, there is a chemosensory organ opening in the roof of the mouth. The tongue, which may be short and wide, slender and forked, or highly extendible, conveys particles from the environment to this organ. The skin of the lizard is scaly and in most species is molted in irregular patches. Members of several lizard families, notably the chameleons chameleon , small- to medium-sized lizard of the family Chamaeleonidae. About eighty species are found in sub-Saharan Africa, with a few in S Asia. The so-called common chameleon, Chamaeleo chamaeleon, is found around the Mediterranean.
..... Click the link for more information. , undergo color changes under the influence of environmental and emotional stimuli.

Many lizards are arboreal, and many terrestrial species are well adapted for climbing. They are often fast runners, some achieving speeds of over 15 mi (24 km) per hr. Some are adapted for burrowing. Most can swim and a few lead a semiaquatic existence, among them the single marine species, an iguana iguana , name for several large lizards of the family Iguanidae, found in tropical America and the Galapagos. The common iguana (Iguana iguana) is a tree-living, strictly vegetarian species found along streams from Mexico to N South America.
..... Click the link for more information. of the Galapagos Islands. Gliding forms, the flying dragons flying dragon, gliding lizard of the genus Draco, found in tropical forests of SE Asia. There are about 15 species. Most are about 8 in. (20 cm) long.
..... Click the link for more information. , are found in the forests of SE Asia. The gila monster gila monster , venomous lizard, Heloderma suspectum, found in the deserts of the SW United States and NW Mexico. It averages 18 in. (45 cm) in length, with a large head, stout body, thick tail that acts as a food reservoir, and short legs with strong claws.
..... Click the link for more information. and the related beaded lizard of the North American deserts are the only known poisonous lizards; some other lizards, such as the lace monitor of Australia, produce a nonfatal venom. Despite folklore, the bite of the gecko gecko , small or medium-sized lizard of the family Gekkonidae. The more than 300 species are distributed throughout the warm regions of the world, mostly in the Old World. Despite folklore to the contrary, their bite is not poisonous.
..... Click the link for more information. is not poisonous. Members of most species are carnivorous, feeding especially on insects, but some are herbivorous or omnivorous.

Fertilization is internal in lizards; males have paired copulatory organs, characteristic of the order. In most species females lay eggs, which they bury in the ground, but in some the eggs are incubated in the oviducts and hatched as they are laid. In both types the young have a special temporary tooth for rupturing the shell. In a few species there is true viviparity, or live birth, with the young nourished by a simple placenta.

The greatest number of species in the United States is found in the South and West. The majority are members of the iguana family, including the collared lizards, swifts, utas, horned lizards horned lizard or horned toad, broad, flat-bodied lizards of the genus Phrynosoma, found in arid regions from extreme SW Canada to Guatemala. There are several species in the United States W of the Mississippi. The body is 3 to 5 in. (7.
..... Click the link for more information. (popularly known as horned toads), and the so-called American chameleon, or anole. These are day-active lizards commonly seen basking on rocks. Most are valuable destroyers of insects.

Lizards are classified in the phylum Chordata Chordata , phylum of animals having a notochord, or dorsal stiffening rod, as the chief internal skeletal support at some stage of their development. Most chordates are vertebrates (animals with backbones), but the phylum also includes some small marine invertebrate
..... Click the link for more information. , subphylum Vertebrata, class Reptilia, order Squamata, suborder Sauria.

Bibliography

See W. M. Milstead, ed., Lizard Ecology (1967); H. S. Fitch, Reproductive Cycles of Lizards and Snakes (1970); B. R. Headstrom, Lizards as Pets (1971).

lizard

Any of about 3,000 species of reptiles constituting the suborder Sauria. They are most diverse and abundant in the tropics but are found from the Arctic Circle (one species) to southern Africa, South America, and Australia. Like snakes, lizards have scales, paired male copulatory organs, and a flexible skull. Typical lizards have a moderately cylindrical body, four well-developed legs (although some lizards are legless), a tail slightly longer than the head and body combined, and movable lower eyelids. They range in size from 1-in. (3-cm) geckos to the 10-ft (3-m) Komodo dragon, but most are about 12 in. (30 cm) long. Ornamentation includes crests on the head, back, or tail; spines; brightly coloured throat fans; and throat frills. Most species feed on insects and rodents, but some, such as the iguana, eat plants. See also Gila monster; horned toad.

lizard

any reptile of the suborder Lacertilia (or Sauria), esp those of the family Lacertidae (Old World lizards), typically having an elongated body, four limbs, and a long tail: includes the geckos, iguanas, chameleons, monitors, and slow worms

Lizard

the. a promontory in SW England, in SW Cornwall: the southernmost point in Great Britain

lizard [′liz·ərd]

(vertebrate zoology)

Any reptile of the suborder Sauria.

Lizard [′liz·ərd]

(astronomy)

Lacerta

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