Southern
Alligator Lizard, Elgaria multicarinata (Canada to Central
America)
This flat, black and brown lizard looks like a miniature version of an
alligator. A fearsome and secretive predator with strong armor covering its
body, it has more than a passing resemblance to its namesake. There are a few
dozen species of alligator lizards, up to 18 inches long, whose habitats range
from grasslands to desert mountains to tropical forests, from Canada to Central
America.
The long, tapering, partly prehensile tail lets these ground dwellers nimbly
climb trees in search of spiders, nestlings and other delicacies. When attacked,
it sometimes violently ejects feces.
Armadillo
Girdle-Tailed Lizard, Cordylus cataphractus (Africa)
These drab African rock dwellers are accomplished insect hunters, but they are,
most notably, defensive specialists. Though medium-sized (about 6 to 15 inches
in length) and slow-moving, their anatomy makes them the equivalent of armored
vehicles: Outfitted from end to end with strong, spiny scales, some are
seemingly impervious to attack.
But famished predators are always willing to take a flyer, and when they do,
these flat lizards deploy especially effective countermeasures, such as wedging
themselves into rock crevices or turning their powerful spiked tails into clubs.
Inland Bearded Dragon, Pogona
vitticeps (Agama) (Australia)
This stocky, semi-arboreal lizard is a prominent member of the Old World Agamidae
family, whose geographically diverse membership includes the likes of the
Australian frilled lizard, the African spiny-tailed lizard, the Bornean
bloodsucker and the Australian thorny devil.
Many agamids wield prickly body armor. Some sport their pointed scales on
their face, while for others the location is the body, tail or neck. Native to
Australia, bearded dragons with flattened bodies are literally covered with
spiny points, most notably on a throat pouch that the animal flares out when
threatened.
Blue-Tongued Skink, Tiliqua
scincoides (Western Australia)
Skinks are secretive and solitary by nature, and this resident of Western
Australia is no exception. There are actually six species of blue-tongued
lizards down under, with a presence characterized by a large head, short legs, a
long body and a short, thick tail.
When threatened, a blue-tongued lizard will expand its ribcage, open its
mouth wide and let fly its huge tongue, which looks like the unfurling of a
scaly, blue pancake set against a vivid pink mouth.
If the intended target is unimpressed (or perhaps colorblind), the
wide-bodied skink gets off a few hisses, then flattens out its body in hopes of
appearing to be too much to handle.
Collared Lizard, Crotaphytus
(Mexico and American Southwest)
Named for the conspicuous black bands that encircle their necks, these rounded,
colorful lizards are familiar sights in Mexico and the American Southwest. Known
in some regions as the "mountain boomer," they only measure about 8 to
14 inches, but are both strong and fearsome.
In fact, while most lizards would rather flee than fight, these members of
the Iguanidae family may charge if challenged. But if given running room
when threatened, they often dash off on all fours, gain speed, then lift off
their hands and run on hind legs only.
Collared lizards also are "saurophagous" — lizard eaters. While
eating another of its own kind is not unique among lizards and other reptiles,
it is by no means common. Still, collared lizards use large, muscular jaws to
capture smaller lizards and satisfy carnivorous urgings.
Dwarf Chameleon, Bradypodion
(South Africa)
These colorful lizards are a common meal for birds, snakes, spiders, household
pets and other lizards in South Africa. But the small chameleons, which only
grow to about 5 inches, are also skilled hunters themselves.
And, like many lizards (and other reptiles), chameleons are often at the
mercy of human beliefs, for good or ill. Residents of Madagascar believe that
killing a chameleon brings bad luck, and some Zulu communities revere and
protect chameleons as representatives of their ancestors. But elsewhere,
traditional African healers mix dried lizards with plants in the belief that
this will ward off bad luck.
Common Flying Dragon, Draco
volans (Southeast Asia)
"Flying" is something of a misnomer for this 5-inch native of
Southeast Asian forests. This arboreal anteater, which spends most of its life
in trees, is more accurately described as the lizard equivalent of a hang
glider. Outfitted with about a half-dozen pairs of elongated ribs connected by a
flattened fold of skin, a "Draco" can spread its "wings,"
push off its perch, hurtle into mid-air and sail to another tree trunk or a spot
on the forest floor.
So adept are these tree-huggers at riding the air currents that they can
glide with precision from place to place, using the right tailwinds to cover
more than 150 feet in a single bound (from a tree height of 33 feet, for
instance).
Frillneck Lizard, Chlamydosauras
kingii (Northern Australia)
This gray-brown tree-dweller from the tropical woodlands of northern Australia
has a thin fold of skin around its neck, a spectacular anatomical device that,
when propped open via muscles and cartilaginous spokes, unfurls like a giant
beach umbrella.
When cornered, the 3-foot-long adult frilled "dragon" may stand on
its hind legs, open its brightly colored mouth, hiss madly and pop open its
foot-in-diameter neck frill. It's a strategy that makes the lizard appear to
double in size. This can be an effective deterrent not only against a predator
but (somewhat surprisingly) even against a rival frillneck.
Not all antagonists are frightened off by the bluff, but the performances
have endeared the frillneck to Australians. The lizard has been featured along
with the likes of the koala and the kangaroo on the country's coins, and
"Lizzie" the frillneck lizard is the official symbol of the Sydney
2000 Paralympic Games. It's a symbol, event organizers say, of strength, will
and attitude.
Gila Monster, Heloderma
suspectum (American Southwest)
This 2-foot lizard may not possess magical powers, as residents of the American
Southwest once believed, but it is adept at making bird eggs and small rodents
disappear. One of only two poisonous lizards on Earth, the slow-moving Gila uses
its keen senses of smell and taste to find nests and burrows; then it usually
relies on its powerful jaws (rather than its potent venom) to subdue its prey.
When food is abundant, the short-legged Gila is active and stores excess fat
in its ringed tail. During lean times, when the lizard becomes dormant, its tail
girth may shrink by 80 percent.
Glass Lizard, Ophisaurus
(Eurasia and the Americas)
It may look like a snake, but this leg-less animal is a full-fledged member of
the lizard family. The dozen species of glass lizards earned their name from a
legend that holds: Shake one of these creatures and it will explode like a light
bulb dropped on a cement floor.
That's certainly a stretch, although this highly polished cylindrical animal,
indigenous to Eurasia and the Americas, does have a long tail that breaks into
pieces when grabbed by a predator. Because the busted pieces continue to wiggle,
the confused predator may not know what to latch onto, giving the glass lizard
an avenue of escape.
After each run-in, the lizard merely regenerates a new tail, one with an
entirely new color and pattern. This unique escape mechanism serves the glass
lizard well, as a lifetime with the same tail is a rarity.
Green Iguana, Iguana iguana
Outfitted with long, curved dorsal spines, the green iguana of the American
tropics is the consummate survivor. It can tumble from a tree branch to the
ground and walk away unscathed. It's an adept climber and swimmer, able to hunt
high in the trees or stay submerged on a river's bottom after diving out of a
tall tree to escape a predator.
The green iguana can grow to over 6 feet and weigh more than 10 pounds,
foraging in the trees for a diet ranging from vegetation and small animals to
nestling birds. For defense, it has a strong bite, hefty, curved claws and a
long tail that can be whipped forcefully.
Known in Belize as the "bamboo chicken," this lizard's biggest
threat in some areas is from human hunters.
Texas Horned Lizard, Phrynosoma
cornutum (Texas)
This fierce-looking desert dweller, endowed with sharp spines on its body and
pointed horns atop its head, is in fact a passive sort that willingly bypasses
trouble. Like the look-alike thorny devil of Australia, this lizard feeds on
ants.
Often erroneously called the "horny toad," this wide-bodied reptile
is one of three horned lizards that inhabit the Lone Star State, although about
a dozen other species of horned lizards are found from Canada to Mexico. It's
renowned for its myriad defense mechanisms, including the ability to squirt
blood from its eyes in the face of danger. And these lizards better have good
defenses, because they're hunted by the likes of the loggerhead shrike, a bird
that impales its unlucky prey on a thorn and returns from time to time to snack
on the carcass.
Endangered by habitat loss and its popularity in the pet trade, the Texas
horned lizard was finally granted formal protection by the Texas legislature in
1967. It is now the official state reptile.
Jackson's Chameleon, Chamaeleo
jacksoni (East Africa)
Equipped with an ominous, curving horn above its snout and two more lengthy
sabers above its eyes, this normally passive lizard will charge headlong into
battle and use its bony and keratinized cutlery to poke its competition.
Of course, sometimes the rainforest battle plan calls for more tactical
maneuvers, and this foot-long tree dweller has all the right reflexes. If its
bedtime branch vibrates — a telltale sign that a predatory snake may be
angling for a midnight snack — the chameleon's feet and tail instinctively
relax, sending it into a life-saving free fall to the darkened forest floor.
This green or yellowish-brown insectivore, equipped with a gigantic,
high-velocity tongue that grabs prey as if coated with glue, is the most common
of all true chameleons in the United States. But it's actually indigenous to
East Africa, its stateside relocation a mere fluke: In the early 1970s, a pet
dealer released some in Hawaii, and they have been reproducing there ever since.
Knob-Tailed Gecko, Nephrurus
(Australian Interior)
This nocturnal denizen of the Australian interior, whose diverse gang includes
the likes of the rough knob-tailed, the smooth knob-tailed, and the spiny
knob-tailed gecko, is named for the small knob on its broad, abbreviated tail.
There are more than 900 species of geckos (second in number only to skinks in
the reptile world), and most reach only about 6 inches in length, if that. The
knobbed tails are a curious anatomical appendage whose function is unknown
(except, perhaps, to the geckos).
Geckos have oversized heads in proportion to their bodies, and much of that
head space is taken up by two unblinking eyes. Knob-tailed geckos spend their
days in burrows beneath the desert floor, emerging at night to hunt.
Komodo Dragon, Varanus
komodoensis (Southern Indonesian Islands)
The world's largest lizard, which can grow to 10 feet and top 200 pounds, roams
four southern Indonesian islands. This quick and forceful predator can fell a
deer (or a human, for that matter) by knocking it to the ground and tearing it
apart with incredibly powerful jaws and claws.
Even an escapee may eventually succumb to the attack. This member of the
monitor lizard family is endowed with saliva awash with virulent strains of
bacteria. A mere nip on the flanks with its serrated teeth will likely be
followed by infection and, soon thereafter, death for the dragon's prey.
The giant monitor, equipped with a keen sense of smell, is an expert at
locating either live prey or rotting flesh.
Marine Iguana, Amblyrhynchus
cristatus (Galapagos Islands)
When Charles Darwin spied these creatures on his 1830s ocean voyage, the famed Beagle-bound
naturalist penned a less-than-flattering journal entry: "It is a
hideous-looking creature," he wrote, "of a dirty black color, stupid
and sluggish in its movements."
The world's only sea-going lizard, which inhabits the Galapagos Islands off
the Ecuadorian coast, isa bit sluggish, but that's attributable to
physiology rather than attitude.
Like other reptiles, the marine iguana, which as an adult can range from 18
inches to 5 feet in length, must use external means to regulate its body
temperature. Therefore, it sunbathes on the coastal rocks, soaking up heat
before swimming into the cold ocean in search of seaweed. Adult males of this
highly social species are adept swimmers and divers. They can reach depths of
more than 40 feet and stay below the surface for as long as an hour. As for its
"hideous" appearance, this lizard "sneezes" frequently to
rid itself of excess salt contained in its diet. Salt glands, which are somewhat
like kidneys between the eyes and nostrils, excrete excess salt into the nose,
and the product of the subsequent "sneezes" coats the lizard's head.
Namib Web-Footed Gecko, Palmatogecko
rangei (Namib Desert of Africa)
This 5-inch-long translucent-skinned lizard, native to the coastal Namib Desert
of Africa, uses its oversized webbed feet to dig burrows, emerging at night to
chase down dinner. Those specially designed feet (and long, spindly legs) give
these hunters the ability to move agilely across the sand, but it is their giant
eyes that give them the edge against spiders, grasshoppers and other tasty fare.
Most geckos lack eyelids, their eyes being instead protected by a transparent
scale (a spectacle), which is cleaned by licking. Vertical pupils provide them
with acute vision in poor light.
Panther Chameleon, Furcifer
pardalis (Madagascar)
"Chameleon" is derived from Greek words that roughly mean "little
lion," and this foot-long resident of Madagascar displays the aggressive
territorial traits of the revered jungle cat. Like all chameleons, the panther
chameleon is a quick-change artist, able to easily transform its nondescript
green body into an eye-popping artist's palette of vivid reds and yellows.
Contrary to popular belief, chameleons don't change color primarily to match
a new environment; instead, changes in skin color primarily reflect a change in
emotional state.
Chameleons in search of a mate use color to advertise their availability, and
these otherwise solitary lizards sometimes turn unabashedly garish colors in
hopes of standing out in the rainforest crowd.
The panther chameleon uses color to ward off those encroaching on its turf.
In fact, when one male panther chameleon enters another's territory during the
breeding season, the latter defends its ground by unleashing a riot of color.
The intruder usually follows suit, and the two may engage in "technicolor
warfare" until one turns tail.
Thorny Devil, Moloch horridus
(Australia)
It's not particularly fierce, but this bizarre, slow-moving Australian lizard
must appear so to many would-be adversaries. Covered from tip to tail with
spines that look as if they were transplanted from a hearty rosebush, the 6-inch
lizard, alternatively known as the Moloch or the mountain devil, has a
face that resembles a miniature rhinoceros.
The thorny devil avoids confrontation, hiding in shrubbery from potential
predators, changing color to camouflage itself when moving from bright sun into
shade and inflating itself when threatened, which makes its bristles all the
more prominent. If all else fails, this lizard tucks its head between its front
legs, a tactic that reveals a knob that looks like a second head.
The thorny devil feeds on ants. Employing a nimble and sticky tongue, a Moloch
will consume as many as 45 ants per minute, snatching up the insects one at a
time. At some sittings, it's estimated, the lizard can pack away 2,000 ants.
Tokay Gecko, Gekko gecko
(Southeast Asia)
Unlike most lizards, geckos can typically vocalize, with squeaks and shrill
whistles. But the tokay gecko of Southeast Asia also growls, hisses and barks.
At more than a foot long, among the largest geckos, the tokay is a remarkable
climber. Able to scale a sheer wall, the gecko can then take a right-angle turn
and perform an upside-down march across a ceiling. The toes of these lizards are
outfitted with enlarged overlapping plates called lamellae, which, in
turn, are covered by thousands of microscopic spatula-shaped prongs (setae)
that operate in a suction-like fashion in the absence of adhesive.
Happily, a gecko has the anatomical wherewithal to counteract this
stick-to-itiveness when traversing the floor, making it possible to flee
oncoming enemies.
