How far can you stick out your tongue? No
matter how far you can stick it out, you cannot beat the chameleon. The
chameleon can stick out its tongue up to twice the length of its body. The
chameleon is a type of lizard. There are more than 4,300 different species
(kinds) of lizard.
WHAT DO LIZARDS LOOK LIKE?
Lizards are reptiles. Snakes, alligators, and crocodiles
are also reptiles. There are more species of lizard than of any other reptile.
Like snakes, lizards have dry, scaly skin. Most lizards are only a few
centimeters long. The biggest lizard is the Komodo dragon. It can be up to 10
feet (3 meters) long.
Lizards have four legs and a long tail. Some
lizards can run fast on their hind legs. Some lizards use their legs for
swimming. Some lizards have claws on their toes for climbing trees. The gecko
has toes that grab like suction cups. Geckos can climb up walls and walk across
ceilings. The glass lizard and the slowworm have very short legs. These lizards
look more like snakes that crawl on their bellies.
WHERE DO LIZARDS LIVE?
Most lizards live in warm places such as
deserts and the tropics. The tropics are areas near the equator, the imaginary
circle that runs around Earth’s middle. Most lizards cannot live in cold
places.
Lizards are cold-blooded. They cannot make their own
body heat. They must lie in the sun to warm up. The common lizard lives the
farthest north of any lizard. It can live near the North Pole.
Some lizards burrow into the ground. Some lizards
live in trees. Other lizards live in or near water.
WHAT DO LIZARDS EAT?
Insects are the favorite food of most lizards. The
green iguana likes to eat vegetables. The Gila monster, which lives in deserts,
eats reptile and bird eggs and mice and other small rodents. The Gila monster
stores fat in its tail. Monitor lizards eat insects, bird and reptile eggs,
small mammals, and dead animals.
Many lizards use their mouths to grab their prey.
Chameleons shoot out their long, sticky tongues to catch insects.
HOW DO LIZARDS DEFEND THEMSELVES?
The beaded lizard and the Gila monster are
poisonous. Most lizards are not poisonous, but lizards can bite to defend
themselves. Some lizards also use their tails like whips to defend themselves.
Most lizards are harmless to people, but the Komodo dragon will sometimes use
its claws and sharp teeth to attack people.
Some lizards can puff themselves up to look
frightening, or hide by blending in with their surroundings. Chameleons can
change the color of their skin to blend in and hide from enemies.
Lizards can grow new tails. If an enemy grabs
a lizard’s tail, that part of the tail just breaks off. Then the lizard grows a
new tail.
DO LIZARDS HAVE FAMILIES?
Lizards do not live in families. Lizard
parents do not take care of their young. Lizard babies must learn to live on
their own.
Most female lizards lay eggs. Baby lizards hatch
out of the eggs. A few lizard species, such as the slowworm, give birth to live
young.
ENDANGERED LIZARDS
The Komodo dragon is an endangered species.
Many other lizards are also endangered. People hunt lizards and their eggs for
food. They hunt lizards for their skin. Many places where lizards lived have
been destroyed to build farms and towns.