The largest lizard. The largest lizards in the world. Appearance of the Lizard

In December 1910, the Dutch administration on the island of Java received information from the administrator of the island of Flores (for civil affairs), Stein van Hensbroek, that there were not known to science giant creatures.

Van Stein's report stated that in the vicinity of Labuan Badi of Flores Island, as well as on the nearby island of Komodo, an animal lives, which the local natives call "buaya-darat", which means "earthen crocodile".

Komodo dragons are one of the species potentially dangerous to humans, although they are less dangerous than crocodiles or sharks and do not pose a direct danger to adults.

According to local residents, the length of some monsters reaches seven meters, and three- and four-meter buya-darats are common. The curator of the Butsnzorg Zoological Museum at the Botanical Park of West Java Province, Peter Owen, immediately entered into correspondence with the manager of the island and asked him to organize an expedition to get the unknown European science reptile.

This was done, although the first lizard caught was only 2 meters 20 centimeters long. Her skin and photographs were sent by Hensbroek to Owens. In the accompanying note, he said that he would try to catch a larger specimen, although this was not easy to do, since the natives were terribly afraid of these monsters. Convinced that the giant reptile was not a myth, the Zoological Museum sent an animal trapping specialist to Flores. As a result, the employees of the Zoological Museum managed to get four specimens of "earth crocodiles", two of which were almost three meters long.

In 1912, Peter Owens published in the Bulletin botanical garden an article about the existence of a new species of reptile, naming an animal previously unknown to the spider komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis Ouwens). Later it turned out that giant monitor lizards are found not only on Komodo, but also on the small islands of Ritya and Padar, lying west of Flores. A careful study of the archives of the Sultanate showed that this animal was mentioned in the archives dating back to 1840.

First World War forced to stop research, and only after 12 years, interest in the Komodo monitor resumed. Now, US zoologists have become the main researchers of the giant reptile. On the English language this reptile became known as komodo dragon(comodo dragon). For the first time, a live specimen was caught by the expedition of Douglas Barden in 1926. In addition to two living specimens, Barden also brought 12 effigies to the United States, three of which are on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

RESERVED ISLANDS

Indonesian national park Komodo (Komodo National Park), protected by UNESCO, was founded in 1980 and includes a group of islands with adjacent warm waters and coral reefs with an area of ​​more than 170 thousand hectares.
The islands of Komodo and Rinca are the largest in the reserve. Of course, the main celebrity of the park is Komodo dragons. However, many tourists come here to see the unique terrestrial and underwater flora and fauna of Komodo. There are about 100 species of fish here. There are about 260 species of reef corals and 70 species of sponges in the sea.
The national park is also home to such animals as the maned sambar, Asian water buffalo, wild boar, Javan macaque.

It was Barden who established the true size of these animals and refuted the myth of seven-meter giants. It turned out that males rarely exceed the length of three meters, and females are much smaller, their length is not more than two meters.

One bite is enough

Years of research have made it possible to study well the habits and lifestyle of giant reptiles. It turned out that Komodo dragons, like other cold-blooded animals, are active only from 6 to 10 am and from 3 to 5 pm. They prefer dry, well-sun areas, and are generally associated with arid plains, savannahs, and tropical dry forests.

In the hot season (May-October), they often stick to dry riverbeds with jungle-covered banks. Young animals can climb well and spend a lot of time in trees, where they find food, and in addition, they hide from their own adult relatives. Giant monitor lizards are cannibals, and adults, on occasion, will not miss the opportunity to feast on smaller relatives. As shelters from heat and cold, monitor lizards use burrows 1-5 m long, which they dig with strong paws with long, curved and sharp claws. Hollow trees often serve as shelters for young monitor lizards.

Komodo dragons, despite their size and outward clumsiness, are good runners. At short distances, reptiles can reach speeds of up to 20 kilometers, and at long distances, their speed is 10 km / h. To get food that is at a height (for example, on a tree), monitor lizards can stand on hind legs using the tail as a support. Reptiles have good hearing, sharp eyesight, but their most important sense organ is the sense of smell. These reptiles are able to smell carrion or blood at a distance of even 11 kilometers.

Most of the monitor lizard population lives in the western and northern parts of the Flores Islands - about 2000 specimens. About 1000 live on Komodo and Rincha, and on the smallest islands of the Gili Motang and Nusa Kode groups, only 100 individuals each.

At the same time, it was noticed that the number of monitor lizards has fallen and individuals are gradually shrinking. They say that the decline in the number of wild ungulates on the islands due to poaching is to blame, so monitor lizards are forced to switch to smaller food.

In the photo m young komodo dragon carcass of an Asian water buffalo. The power of the jaws of monitor lizards is fantastic. Without effort they open chest victims, cutting through the ribs like a huge can opener.

GAD BROTHERHOOD

From modern species prey much larger than itself is attacked only by the Komodo dragon and the crocodile monitor lizard. The crocodile monitor lizard has very long and almost straight teeth. This is an evolutionary adaptation for successful feeding by birds (breaking through dense plumage). They also have serrated edges, and the teeth of the upper and lower jaws can act like scissors, which makes it easier for them to dismember prey in a tree where they spend most life.

Yadozuby - poisonous lizards. Today, two species are known - gila monster and escorpion. They live mainly in the southwestern United States and Mexico in rocky foothills, semi-deserts and deserts. The most active poisonous teeth are in the spring, when their favorite food appears - bird eggs. They also feed on insects, small lizards and snakes. The poison is produced by the submandibular and sublingual salivary glands and through the ducts enters the teeth of the lower jaw. When bitten, the teeth of the gila teeth - long and curved back - almost half a centimeter enter the body of the victim.

The menu of monitor lizards includes a wide variety of animals. They practically eat everything: large insects and their larvae, crabs and fish thrown out by storms, rodents. And although monitor lizards are born scavengers, they are also active hunters, and often large animals become their prey: wild boars, deer, dogs, domestic and feral goats, and even the largest ungulates of these islands - Asian water buffaloes.
Giant monitor lizards do not actively pursue their prey, but rather steal it and grab it when it comes close by itself.

When hunting large animals, reptiles use very reasonable tactics. Adult monitor lizards, leaving the forest, slowly move towards grazing animals, from time to time they stop and crouch to the ground if they feel that they are attracting their attention. They can knock down wild boars, deer with a blow of their tail, but more often they use their teeth - inflicting a single bite on the animal's leg. This is where success lies. After all, now the “biological weapon” of the Komodo dragon has been launched.

Reptiles have good hearing, sharp eyesight, but their most important sense organ is the sense of smell.

For a long time it was believed that the victim was eventually killed by disease-causing organisms in the monitor lizard's saliva. But in 2009, scientists found that in addition to the "deadly cocktail" of pathogenic bacteria and viruses in saliva, to which monitor lizards themselves have immunity, reptiles are poisonous.

The Komodo dragon has two venom glands in its lower jaw that produce toxic proteins. These proteins, when they enter the body of the victim, prevent blood clotting, reduce blood pressure contribute to muscle paralysis and the development of hypothermia. Everything in general leads the victim to shock or loss of consciousness. The venom gland of Komodo monitor lizards is more primitive than that of poisonous snakes. The gland is located in the lower jaw under the salivary glands, its ducts open at the base of the teeth, and do not exit through special channels in poisonous teeth, as in snakes.

AT oral cavity poison and saliva mix with decaying food, forming a mixture in which many different deadly bacteria multiply. But this did not surprise scientists, but the poison delivery system. It turned out to be the most complex of all such systems in reptiles. Instead of injecting with a single blow with their teeth, like poisonous snakes, monitor lizards have to literally rub it into the victim's wound, making jerks with their jaws. This evolutionary invention has helped giant monitor lizards survive for thousands of years.

After a successful attack, time begins to work for the reptile, and the hunter is left to follow the victim all the time. The wound does not heal, the animal becomes weaker every day. After two weeks, even such a large animal as a buffalo has no strength left, its legs buckle and it falls. For the monitor lizard, it's time for a feast. He slowly approaches the victim and rushes at her. At the smell of blood, his relatives come running. In places of feeding, fights often arise between equal males. As a rule, they are cruel, but not deadly, as evidenced by the numerous scars on their bodies.

Who is next?

For people, a huge head covered like a shell, with unkind, unblinking eyes, a toothy gaping mouth, from which a forked tongue protrudes, all the time in motion, a bumpy and folded body of a dark brown color on strong spread legs with long claws and a massive tail is a living embodiment of the image of extinct monsters of distant eras. One can only be amazed at how such creatures could survive today practically unchanged.

The only known representative of large reptiles - Megalania prisca sizes from 5 to 7 m and weighing 650-700 kg

Paleontologists believe that 5-10 million years ago the ancestors of the Komodo dragon appeared in Australia. This assumption fits well with the fact that the only known representative of large reptiles is Megalania prisca measuring from 5 to 7 m and weighing 650-700 kg was found on this continent. Megalania, and the full name of the monstrous reptile can be translated from Latin, as a "great ancient tramp", preferred, like the Komodo monitor lizard, to settle in grassy savannahs and sparse forests, where he hunted mammals, including very large ones, such as diprodonts, various reptiles and birds. These were the largest poisonous creatures that ever existed on Earth.

Fortunately, these animals died out, but the Komodo dragon took their place, and now it is these reptiles that attract thousands of people to come to the time-forgotten islands to see the last representatives of the ancient world in natural conditions.

There are 17,504 islands in Indonesia, although these numbers are not final. The Indonesian government has set itself the difficult task of conducting a complete audit of all the Indonesian islands without exception. And who knows, maybe at the end of it there will still be open known to people animals, although not as dangerous as Komodo dragons, but certainly no less amazing!

The Komodo dragon is the most big lizard in the world, its average size is 2.5 m, and its weight is 90 kg. But there are record holders whose length reaches 3 m, and their weight reaches 150 kg. A huge lizard lives on the Indonesian islands, it was first discovered only in 1912.

The Komodo dragon belongs to the class of reptiles, a subclass of oviparous, to the squamous order.

To date, the largest lizard from this family is recognized male 3.13 meters long, weighing 166 kg. It is curious, but it is the males that reach huge sizes, the females, as a rule, do not grow above 1.8 m.

The sight of a huge lizard introduces fear - a massive body covered with stone-colored skin resembling chain mail, large curved teeth, a forked tongue.

Unusual hunting

Komodo lizards are predators, so they only eat meat. The diet of young individuals consists mainly of insects, birds, snakes. Adult monitor lizards prey on more satisfying victims, the inhabitants of the forests - wild boars, buffaloes, deer, smaller mammals - become their prey. There is practically nothing left of the victims - the giant does not disdain hooves, skins and other parts of carcasses that other predators do not eat.

The unusualness of the hunt lies in the fact that these lizards are able to recognize not only the approach of the victim at a distance of several kilometers, but also to feel its taste. Involved in this process forked tongue and organs of the oral cavity, able to taste the air.

Large Komodo lizards cannot be called slow, they can run at a speed of 18 km per hour and have very flexible jaw and throat muscles. This structure allows you to quickly swallow large pieces meat. The stomach is easily and strongly stretched, holding even whole carcasses large animals such as pigs.

However, predatory giants rarely swallow whole carcasses. More often they prefer to bring the victim to immobilization, then tear it apart and eat it. In alarming situations, the monitor lizard instantly releases the stomach to lighten the weight and run away from the enemy.

Poison and contagiousness

Komodo dragon - poisonous creature , the poison is secreted from the glands located in the lower jaw. The poisonous secret disrupts blood clotting, lowers blood pressure and body temperature, causes paralysis of the victim and severe pain.

Even if the unfortunate animal receives a small dose of poison and breaks out of the mouth of a predator, he is not destined to escape and survive. Lizard saliva contains over 50,000 species of bacteria. The bite leads to blood poisoning and inevitable death in the coming days. The predator constantly monitors the surrounding air and hurries to where the victim is being killed by the disease.

A poisonous dragon rarely attacks people, but there were cases when even children became victims. However, Komodo monitor lizards are under protection, it is forbidden to destroy them.

Reproduction Facts

Komodo dragons are capable of asexual reproduction, but only males can appear in this way. Females are born only after natural fertilization.

To protect offspring from other predators, mothers make false nests and hatch there, distracting hunters. At this time, the real eggs are in a different place.

Young lizards are cunning- Sensing danger, they repeatedly collapse in their own feces to emit an unpleasant odor. Lizards spend the first four years of their lives on trees, hiding from predators, including monitor lizards of their family and their own parents, who no longer recognize their offspring.

Growing up to one and a half meters, young dragons descend and begin to hunt themselves. Adulthood lasts about nine years, and the lifespan of a dragon is an average of thirty years. But they do not have such survivability as.

Komodo or giant Indonesian monitor lizard is considered the largest lizard in the world. In some countries it is called a dragon, which, in general, is not a mistake.

The length of adults can be about 70 kg, but in captivity they can reach even larger sizes. According to Western sources, the largest individual encountered in the wild weighed as much as 166 kilograms, and its length reached 313 centimeters! The color of the lizards is dark brown with speckles, but in young animals it is somewhat brighter.

You can meet this reptile on the following islands of Indonesia: Flores, Jili Motang, Komodo and Rincha. The total number of individuals is just over 5000 copies. Scientists believe that this species once lived in Australia, but then moved to the nearest islands. It happened many thousands of years ago.

As a rule, monitor lizards are active only during the day, hiding in shelters at night. But even in the daytime, they prefer to be in the shade, hiding from the scorching sun. The animal lives in savannas, dry tropical forests and dry plains. Swims well, willingly enters sea ​​water and even able to swim across to a neighboring island. Despite the seeming immobility, the dragon is capable of reaching speeds of up to 20 km / h, however, at short distances. In addition, it is able to get food from trees, standing on its hind legs. Juveniles, on the other hand, perfectly climb trees, spending a lot of time there. Interestingly, they have no enemies, except that snakes and some birds of prey prey on young individuals.

Monitor lizards can eat a wide variety of animals. So, they can eat both insects and rodents, as well as large animals, such as horses or buffaloes. At the same time, they have developed cannibalism, especially in times of famine. Adult monitor lizards usually hunt large prey from ambush. Knocking her down, the reptile immediately bites its prey. As a rule, after this, the damaged animal gets up and leaves. However, after a while, he will still die, because the monitor lizard brought him poison and a lot of bacteria in the wound. After about three weeks, a bitten, say, buffalo dies of blood poisoning. The lizard feels the smell of carrion at a great distance and immediately runs to feed. Other representatives of this species also flock here, and fights often occur between them. By the way, adults feed mainly only on carrion.

The Komodo dragon is dangerous to humans because inflammation, sepsis, begins after a bite. Scientists have long believed that the problem is in the bacteria that are in the oral cavity of the animal. This is true and in total about 57 different strains of bacteria have been found. However, only a few years ago, experts found out that the dragon's mouth also has two poisonous glands, which are located in the lower part of the jaw. The venom itself contains toxic proteins that lower blood pressure, paralyze muscles, develop hypothermia, lead to a state of shock and cause unconsciousness in the bitten person.

In general, this type of monitor lizard is not so dangerous for humans, although attacks have been recorded far more than once. Apparently, the animal simply confuses people with its usual food. Since their bites are dangerous, you should immediately apply for medical care Otherwise, 99% death is possible. It is also worth noting that the lizard smells rot or blood at a distance of up to five kilometers, so if you have a wound, then it is better not to visit the island. This fully applies to women who have begun menstruation. And they suffer from reptiles locals, or rather, those whom they buried - monitor lizards dig up buried corpses and feed on them. Now the dead are kept using dense cast cement slabs.

A lizard is an animal that belongs to the class of reptiles (reptiles). To date, almost 6,000 species are known. Representatives of families can be very different, some rare species are listed in the Red Book. Both reptiles with legs and some legless forms are called lizards. Reptiles can be vegetarians and eat animal food. Some varieties are suitable for keeping at home.

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Description

Unlike snakes, these reptiles have divided eyelids. Their body is elastic, elongated, ends in a long tail. Paws are proportional, clawed.

According to general characteristics, the body is covered with keratinized scales, which change several times a year. The tongue can have a different shape, it is usually movable and extends from the mouth. It is with them that lizards catch prey. On both sides of the head are the organs of hearing, which are covered by eardrums.

real lizard

The most common reptile is the real lizard. Her body length is 40 cm.

Teeth are used to tear and grind food. Monitor lizards cut their prey with them.

The only one poisonous species lizards - gila.



Reptiles live on every continent except Antarctica. Representatives familiar to Russia - real lizards - live almost everywhere. All species move around different surfaces, firmly clinging to irregularities. Rock lizards are excellent jumpers, the height of their jump reaches 4 m.



Tail

Lizards are capable of autotomy, which is used in case of danger: muscle contraction allows you to break the cartilaginous formations of the vertebrae and discard part of the tail, narrowing the blood vessels, while losing blood almost never happens. This distracts the enemy, and the animal avoids the attack.

The tail of the reptile is quickly restored in a shortened form. Sometimes not one, but several grows back.



Color

Lizards have a color that combines green, white, gray and brown colors. The species that live in the desert exactly repeat the shade of the surrounding area. This is their defense mechanism.

Desert species are able to change body color. These include calot - a reptile with a red head. Among reptiles there are albinos - these are lizards white color devoid of pigment.



The giant lizard has a black and yellow color.



giant lizard

Salamanders are black with yellow spots.



Salamander

Geckos have special colors. Some of them color pink with a blue tail.





Floor

There are a number of signs that allow you to roughly determine gender. It is possible to distinguish a male from a femaleonly in adulthood, as sexual dimorphism developslate.

Male individuals of some species, according to the description, have a crest on the back and head, large pores on the hips. Another feature of the male is the spurs on the paws.

Find out gender certain types can be along the throat "bags", preanal shields and enlarged scales behind the cloaca.

However, only a blood test for testosterone levels can accurately distinguish a male from a female. They make it at the vet.

Varieties

Lizard species are divided into 6 infraorders, which consist of 37 families.

Each of them has its own characteristics.

Skinks

The order includes 7 families with the following names:

• real lizards;
• night lizards;
• herrosaurus;
• skink;
• teiids;
• belttails;
• hymnophthalmids.



Large Herrosaur

iguanas

The order includes 14 families. Some of the representatives of these lizards are real iguanas. These are large reptiles that can reach a length of 2 m. They live mainly in tropical forests.

A prominent representative of the detachment is also a chameleon that inhabits Africa, Madagascar, the countries of the East, the USA. Its peculiarity lies in the ability to change skin color depending on the environment.



Chameleon

In the forests of Cameroon, there is a four-horned chameleon, which got its name because of the characteristic outgrowths on its head. In males, only three "horns" can be developed; in females, they usually do not have them.

geckos

The order consists of 7 families.

Its representative can be called a scalefoot, which lives in Australia.



Scalelegs

Fusiform

The order includes 2 superfamilies and 5 families.

These include monitor lizards, earless monitor lizards, fusiform, legless, xenosaurs.

Large xenosaurus

worm-like

The order consists of 2 genera and the family worm-like lizards that look like worms.

They inhabit Indonesia, China, New Guinea, Philippines.



worm lizard

monitor lizards

The order includes several families, which consist of the largest lizards.

Typical representatives are monitor lizard and gilatooth, which are found in the United States and Mexico.



komodo dragon

Suborder lizards

The order includes the superfamily Shinisaurus.

It includes one species, the crocodile shinizaurus.



Crocodile shinizaurus

record holders

Of the currently existing representatives of lizards, the largest is the Komodo monitor lizard. Some individuals have huge dimensions, reaching three meters in length and a weight of 85 kg in adulthood. A lizard weighing 91.7 kg is listed in the Guinness Book of Records. These reptiles eat small animals, but can also attack larger prey. The Komodo dragon feeds on wild boars, wild goats, and cattle.

The smallest lizards in the world are the Haraguan sphero and the Virginian round-toed gecko. Their dimensions do not exceed 19 mm, weight - 0.2 g.

home views

Various geckos are especially popular with owners.



Pink with gray tail hemiteconix

If you need a calm pet for children, it is better to havegemiteconyx. They have different colors depending on the breed. Their tail accumulates nutrients, which they use as a reserve in the absence of food. Because of this, the tail looks gray, while the body is most often pink. This is a reptile with a very expressive look.



Felzuma

If you want to keep at homethe animal is more active, you can choose a felsum. She has a beautiful emerald color. It can be observed during daylight hours.

At home, they also contain varieties of agamas. The most popular of them are bearded and woody. The first got its name due to the neck bag, which, when frightened or in mating season stretches and darkens. Tree, or black-throated agama is also able to change skin tone. Such pets are reluctant to make contact with the owner and prefer to hide.



Many lizards eat insects. They prefer various crickets, mealworms, will not give up raw eggs or pieces of meat, a mixture of chopped boiled chicken, carrots and lettuce.

Supplement food with supplements of vitamins and minerals. In a terrarium for home maintenance, there must be water. If the pet refuses food, but drinks, there is no reason for concern: the lizard simply reduced its activity and did not get hungry.

reproduction

The mating season is in spring and summer. large species breed once a season, small - several times a year. Males are in conflict, approaching each other from the side, trying to look bigger. The small one surrenders without a fight and retreats.

If the males are of the same size, a fight ensues between them, during which they use their teeth. The winner gets the right to the female. In some species, a violation in the sex ratio leads to parthenogenesis - females lay eggs without the participation of males. In lizards, there are 2 types of reproduction: live birth and laying eggs.

Females of small reptiles lay no more than 4 eggs, large ones - up to 18. The mass of one varies from 4 to 200 g. The size of a round-toed gecko egg is no more than 6 mm in diameter. In the monitor lizard, it reaches 10 cm in length.

The laying of females is buried in the ground, hidden in burrows. The incubation period lasts from 3 weeks to one and a half months. It depends on the climate. Having hatched, the cubs begin an independent life.

Pregnancy lasts 3 months, the embryos of northern species hibernate in the womb. Their life span does not exceed 5 years.

Lizards have lived on Earth for millions of years. They managed to successfully adapt to the changing conditions of life on our planet and today this species of animals can be found in different parts Sveta.

The largest lizard lives on Komodo Island in Indonesia. This is a Komodo monitor lizard, which has a length of 3 meters with a body weight of up to 160 kg. This type of lizard is of particular interest to scientists. The locals call it the dragon of Komodo Island. He leads the ranking of the largest lizards.

1. Komodo Dragon or Komodo Island Dragon

Scientists discovered this species of lizard in 1912. It is believed that these giants used to live in Australia. Seismic activity and changing terrain prompted them to move to the islands of Indonesia. Adult monitor lizards grow up to 3 meters long and can weigh up to 160 kg.

Medium Komodo monitor lizards are up to 2 meters long. The skin of these animals is dark and mottled. They have powerful paws, tail, jaws and sharp teeth.

These lizards are excellent swimmers, climb trees and run at a speed of 20 km per hour. Komodo monitor lizards are terrible predators that have no enemies in nature. They prey on rodents, snakes, baby crocodile, deer, wild boar, goats, buffalo and even their relatives. These lizards do not disdain carrion and can tear up and eat the bodies of buried animals and people. Therefore, on the island of Komodo, heavy plates are installed on the graves.

There have been cases of these giants attacking people, although this rarely happens. Danger awaits children and livestock, which often become monitor lizard's dinner. The saliva of these "dragons" is toxic, so the victim weakens after a bite and slowly dies.

Komodo dragons arrange bloody fights for the female during the mating season. She lays up to 20 eggs. Cubs are born small and can become prey for birds and snakes. The mother guards only the masonry. Then it all depends on the ability to hide, so the kids hide in the foliage.

The monitor lizard of Komodo Island is listed in the Red Book. Hunting for this lizard is prohibited. But locals make up for the inconvenience of coexisting with this giant with tourism revenue. Despite the danger, tourists actively visit Komodo all year round.

This huge lizard lives in Australia. The length of her body is up to 2.5 meters, with a weight of 25 kg.

Lives in inaccessible areas, feeds on snakes, birds and small mammals (wallabies, wombats). When trying to hunt him, he attacks a person. A tail blow can knock a man to the ground or cripple a dog.

3. Striped monitor lizard

The body length of this giant is up to 250 cm. Weight is up to 20 kg. Only the Komodo dragon is heavier than it. Distributed in Sumatra, Java, in mainland India.

This is a semi-aquatic lizard. She is an excellent swimmer and diver. Digs burrows up to 10 meters deep and can climb trees. Eats fish, baby crocodile, turtle eggs, otters and even mammals (monkeys).

Lives in New Guinea. Body length up to 2 meters, weight up to 10 kg. This is a tree lizard. Uses its tail to grab onto tree branches, often rearing up on its hind legs to get its bearings.

It hunts birds, snakes, kangaroos, does not disdain carrion. It swallows small prey whole, and tears out pieces of meat from large prey. There were cases of attacks on humans and livestock.

Reaches body size up to 175 cm. Weight up to 7.2 kg. Digs burrows under tree roots or rocks. It can settle in a hollow, it climbs trees very well.

Runs and jumps fast. Lives in India and Pakistan. In northern Pakistan, it flows into hibernation. It feeds on rodents, snakes, eggs of birds, snakes and crocodiles.

Body length up to 125 cm. Weight up to 13 kg. Lives only in the Galapagos Islands.

Digging holes for himself. It feeds on vegetation, picks up fallen fruits, flowers and sprouts of cacti (opuntia).

Inhabits the Galapagos Islands. Body length up to 140 cm. Weight up to 12 kg. It has a long tail up to half of the body. Most of his time is at sea, he can swim and dive very well.

On land, it can be found on a rocky coast, in swamps or mango thickets. It has an interesting pinkish skin color. It feeds on algae. Eggs are laid on the shore in warm sand.

The body length of the sailing lizard reaches 1 meter, it has a leather comb on its back. This lizard is omnivorous.

She eats fruits, flowers, leaves, insects and small mammals. The animal is not aggressive, so it often becomes a prey for local hunters. The eggs of the female are laid in the sand on the shore.

Most large individuals chameleons grow up to 60 cm in length. These lizards have long legs with fingers adapted for grasping branches. Helps in this chameleon and twisted tail. On the round head of these animals there are small horns.

The chameleon has unusual eyes that can look in different directions and increase the view of the area when hunting. This lizard can change skin color. Color changes depend on air temperature, fear, anger, hunger and other emotions.

Animals are common in Africa, India, Sri Lanka, America and Southern Europe. Chameleons have a long tongue with an insect sucker. They also will not refuse to eat fruits and young greens.

There are up to 5,000 species of lizards on Earth, and all of them are admired. After all, one cannot but be surprised by the ability of these animals to autotomy, that is, in case of danger, to discard and grow a tail again. These creatures can change skin color to suit environment or disguised as a dried leaf. Basilisk can run on water, and Moloch can soak up water in the desert with all the skin of his body.

The long forked tongue helps the lizards hunt. Their adaptability, strength and ability to survive can be the envy of many animals. The largest lizard, the Kamodian monitor lizard, is an exceptional species that may still bring many surprises to scientists.