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Reptiles & amphibians · 12 species guides

Lizards: Geckos, Skinks, Monitors & Identification

Lizards are squamate reptiles that typically retain legs, external ear openings and eyelids, including geckos, skinks, monitors, chameleons, iguanas and the Komodo dragon; a few lineages such as slow-worms are legless and are often mistaken for snakes.

Legs, eyelids, ears
Typical lizards have four legs, blink, and show ear openings. Snakes do not blink and lack external ears.
Gecko toes
Many geckos have adhesive toe pads for climbing glass and rock; most skinks have smoother scales and spend more time on the ground.
Monitor tongue
Monitors flick a long forked tongue like snakes; iguanas have fleshy tongues and a more herbivorous build.
Chameleon eyes and feet
Chameleons have turret eyes that move independently and zygodactyl feet for gripping branches.

Lizards are the most diverse living reptiles after counting species. Most have four legs, movable eyelids and external ear openings — the quickest separation from snakes — but several lineages lost their legs and still blink. The everyday confusion pairs are useful: gecko versus skink, monitor versus iguana, slow-worm versus snake, chameleon versus other arboreal lizards. Size spans the tiny gecko to the Komodo dragon, the largest living lizard.

Island endemics and colourful pet-trade favourites lose ground first when habitat is cleared or wild animals are collected. Distinguishing a slow-worm from a snake stops pointless killing of a protected legless lizard. Knowing that chameleon colour change is mainly for signalling and temperature, not perfect camouflage, corrects a myth that still drives search traffic. This type page holds the identification block; the linked guides carry species-level status and sources. WARN lizard guides linked from this page cover geckos, skinks, monitors, chameleons, iguanas and the Komodo dragon with IUCN status and sourced FAQs. Field observers should still treat every unidentified large monitor as wild fauna first, not as a pet escape, until range and markings are checked against a guide.

Key facts

  • Most lizards have legs, eyelids and ear openings — the fastest field separation from snakes.
  • Slow-worms are legless lizards, not snakes.
  • The Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a restricted-range predator.
  • Geckos, skinks, monitors, chameleons and iguanas are separate everyday groups within lizards.
  • The pet trade and habitat loss hit colourful and island species hardest.
  • Chameleon colour change is mainly for signalling and temperature, not perfect camouflage.

How to recognise them

The features that separate this group in the field, in the order they are usually most useful.

Legs, eyelids, ears
Typical lizards have four legs, blink, and show ear openings. Snakes do not blink and lack external ears.
Gecko toes
Many geckos have adhesive toe pads for climbing glass and rock; most skinks have smoother scales and spend more time on the ground.
Monitor tongue
Monitors flick a long forked tongue like snakes; iguanas have fleshy tongues and a more herbivorous build.
Chameleon eyes and feet
Chameleons have turret eyes that move independently and zygodactyl feet for gripping branches.
The confusion pairs
Slow-worm versus snake: slow-worms blink and can drop the tail. Skink versus salamander: skinks have scales and dry skin; salamanders are amphibians.

12 lizards guides

Search or filter by conservation status. Every guide carries sourced facts, IUCN status and FAQs.

Showing 1-12 of 12 animals

Animal group
A chameleon gripping a thin branch with opposed, pincer-like feet and a coiled prehensile tail, one turreted eye swivelled toward the camera.
Varies by species; many threatened

Reptiles

C

Chameleon

Chamaeleonidae

Independently swivelling eyes, a tongue faster than a blink, and colour change that talks rather than hides.

Madagascar · Sub-Saharan Africa

Open guide
Frilled lizard standing with its large neck frill flared open and mouth gaping
Least Concern

Reptiles

F

Frilled Lizard

Chlamydosaurus kingii

The lizard that flares a dramatic neck frill

Oceania

Open guide
A gecko clinging to a vertical wall showing adhesive toe pads, large eyes and mottled skin.
Varies by species

Reptiles

G

Gecko

Infraorder Gekkota — ~1,500 species across six families worldwide

Nocturnal lizards of walls and forests — adhesive toes and unmistakable calls.

Tropical and subtropical worldwide · some temperate regions

Open guide
A large green iguana perched on a branch in the sun, showing its row of dorsal spines, loose throat dewlap and banded tail.
Least Concern

Reptiles

I

Iguana

Iguana iguana

The big, leaf-eating tree lizard of the Americas — and a surprising invader far from home.

Central America · South America

Open guide
A wild adult Komodo dragon walking across dry savanna grassland on an Indonesian island, its forked yellow tongue extended, showing powerful clawed limbs, muscular tail and tough scaled grey-brown skin.
Endangered

Reptiles

K

Komodo Dragon

Varanus komodoensis

The world's largest living lizard, cornered onto a handful of Indonesian islands.

Indonesia

Open guide
Satanic leaf-tailed gecko with flattened body, tail shaped like a dead leaf and fringe skin along edges on Madagascar rainforest trunk
Critically Endangered

Reptiles

L

Leaf-Tailed Gecko

Uroplatus phantasticus (Boulenger, 1888) — genus Uroplatus, around 20 species

The gecko shaped like a dead leaf — with a fringe that eliminates its shadow.

Madagascar · Eastern humid forest — several species with restricted ranges

Open guide
A yellow leopard gecko with black spots standing on sandy ground, its large eyes and thick tail clearly visible.
Least Concern

Reptiles

L

Leopard Gecko

Eublepharis macularius (Blyth, 1854)

The hardy beginner's lizard — a ground-dwelling gecko bred into hundreds of colour morphs.

South Asia — Afghanistan, Pakistan, north-west India, Iran (wild); kept worldwide

Open guide
A monitor lizard with elongated neck, forked tongue flicking and patterned scales moving through tropical undergrowth.
Varies by species

Reptiles

M

Monitor Lizard

Genus Varanus — ~80 species including Komodo dragon (V. komodoensis)

Intelligent apex lizards — from garden goannas to the Komodo dragon.

Africa · Asia

Open guide
Male panther chameleon with vivid blue and green bands on a branch in Madagascar northern rainforest
Least Concern

Reptiles

P

Panther Chameleon

Furcifer pardalis (Cuvier, 1829) — family Chamaeleonidae

The chameleon whose colour change is about mood, not camouflage — and whose skin uses nanocrystals.

Northern and eastern Madagascar · Introduced to Réunion and Mauritius

Open guide
Blue-tongued skink on sandy ground with tongue partially visible
Varies by species

Reptiles

S

Skink

Family Scincidae (Gray, 1825) — over 1,700 species

The second-largest lizard family on Earth, and a live demonstration of how snakes got their shape.

Every continent except Antarctica · Highest diversity in Australia and Southeast Asia

Open guide
A smooth, glossy, coppery-brown slow worm with a small blunt head coiled on bare soil among grass, its limbless body resembling a snake but in fact a legless lizard.
Least Concern

Reptiles

S

Slow Worm

Anguis fragilis

The legless lizard that blinks, sheds its tail, and quietly eats your garden slugs.

United Kingdom · Western Europe

Open guide
Tuatara with spiny crest resting on mossy New Zealand rock
Least Concern

Reptiles

T

Tuatara

Sphenodon punctatus (Gray, 1842) — family Sphenodontidae

Not a lizard. The last survivor of a reptile order that has been separate for 250 million years.

New Zealand — around 30 offshore islands and fenced mainland sanctuaries

Open guide

Conservation: what this group faces

Island lizards and large monitors lose ground first when habitat is cleared or animals are collected. Distinguishing lizards from snakes reduces pointless killing of slow-worms and other harmless species.

Fund reptile & amphibian protection Current appeals

Lizards: frequently asked questions

What is a lizard?
A squamate reptile that typically has legs, eyelids and external ear openings. The group includes geckos, skinks, monitors, chameleons and iguanas.
Is a slow-worm a snake?
No. Slow-worms are legless lizards. They blink, have notched tongues rather than deeply forked ones, and can shed the tail when threatened.
What is the largest lizard?
The Komodo dragon, restricted to a handful of Indonesian islands. Large monitors elsewhere approach but do not match its mass.
How do geckos climb walls?
Microscopic hair-like setae on the toe pads create adhesion through van der Waals forces, letting many species walk on glass.
Do chameleons change colour to match the background?
Not as the main function. Colour change is driven chiefly by mood, temperature and social signalling; background matching is limited.
Are lizards endangered?
Many island and habitat-specialist lizards are threatened. Habitat loss and the pet trade are recurring drivers.

Other types of reptiles & amphibians

All reptile & amphibian guides Animals A–Z