FLYING DRAGON(Draco volans)
This lizard lives in forest, where it glides from tree to tree. Its "wings" are specially enlarged ribs that open out like the struts of a fan, stretching a flap of loose skin. After flight, the ribs hinge back along its body to fold the wings away. Flying dragons feed on small insects and lay their eggs on the ground.
The thorny devil lives in the deserts of western Austrailia, where it feeds mainly on ants. Its body is covered with prickles and spines that extend from its head to its tail and along its legs. It needs these because ants take time to eat, and while it is feeding it is vulnerable to attack.
This African lizard is one of about 90 species of chameleons, all adapted for life in trees. Like other chameleons, its body is humped and narrow, and its eyes can swivel independently. It can also change color, either to match its background or to show its mood. If it spots an insect, it shoots out its sticky-tipped tongue, which is as long as the rest of its body. Some chameleons give birth to live young, but this particular species lays eggs.
Racerunners are among the world's fastest lizards. Over short distances they can reach speeds of 20 mph-almost as fast as the best human sprinters. They live in grassland, sand dunes, and other open places, relying on speed to keep out of trouble. They have slender bodies with very long tails. Racerunners belong to a family of lizards called whiptails, which total more than 200 species, and are found only in the Americas. Some are of particular interest to scientists because they are all female and can breed without having to mate.
Across much of Southeast Asia, the tokay gecko is a common visitor to houses. At night, it scuttles up walls in search of insects and other lizards and can even run across ceilings upside down. It can grip so well because it has flattened toe pads covered with up to a million microscopic, clinging hairs. This acrobatic animal is one of more than 800 species in the tropics. They often gather around lights after dark to catch their pry. Most lay two eggs at a time. These are soft and sticky at first, but soon harden.
When pressed flat against a tree, the leaf-tailed gecko is almost impossible to see because of its superb camouflage. Its body has a mottled pattern that looks like patches of lichen growing on bark. It also has a leaf-shaped tail that helps break up its outline. Like most geckos, this forest lizard cannot blink - instead, it uses its tongue to clean its eyes.
Skinks make up one of the lagest families of lizards, with at least 1,000 species. Most of them have smooth, shiny scales and small legs, and almost all of them live on the ground. The common blue-tongued skink, a large species from eastern Austrailia, often comes into backyards. It has a large head and a short tail, but its most conspicuous feature is its blue tongue. If threatened, it sticks its tongue out and makes a hissing noise. This performance frightens off many predators-and some humans as well. There are several kinds of blue-tongued skinks, and they all give birth to live young.
The sand skink is one of North America's strangest lizards. It has a long, streamlined body and a sharply pointed nose, and its legs are so small that they are often difficult to see. Its back feet each have two toes, but its front feet have just one. Sand skinks spend much of their lives under ground. Instead of digging with their legs, they wriggle their bodies and "swim" through the sand. They are very sensitive to movement. This helps them find termites and insect grubs to eat.
This handsome, bright green lizard has a tail almost twice as long as its body. It lives on the groud and in trees, feeding on insects, spiders, and occasionally young birds. Green lizards breed by laying eggs. During the winter months, they hibernate in tree hollows and rocky crevices. The viviparous lizard (Lacerta vivipara), a small brown relative of this species, is the only lizard that breeds north of the Arctic Circle. The word viviparous means that it gives birth to live young, unlike its relative the green lizard.
The slowworm looks like a small snake, but it's actually a lizard with no legs. Slowworms differ from snakes in many ways. They can close their eyes, and they shed their tails if attacked. They also have bony plates beneath their scales, which make their bodies hard and stiff. Slowworms come out at dawn and dusk, often after rain. They feed on insects, spiders, and slugs. Females produce up to 12 eggs that hach as they are being laid.
The fat and lumbering Gila monster is one of only two poisonous lizards in the world-the other is the Mexican beaded lizard (Heloderma horridum). Its bright orange and black colors warn other animals to leave it alone. Gila monsters live in deserts and other dry places. Their tails work like a camal's hump, storing fat for times when food is scarce. They hunt small mammals and other lizards after dark, gripping them in their jaws and injecting venom as they chew. Although their bite is extremely painful, it is rarely fatal to humans.
The Komodo dragon is the world's largest lizard. A meat-eater, it feeds by hunting and scavenging and is strong enough to bring down a horse. Komodo dragons belong to a group of giant lizards called monitors, which have powerful legs and long, forked tongues. They use their tongues to taste the air for living prey or dead remains. Komodo dragons once roamed over a large part of Indonesia, but they now lve on only a handful of islands. There are about 5,000 left, and they are protected by law.
Austailia has more monitor lizards, or goannas, than anywhere else in the world, and Gould's monitor is the most widespread species. It is brown or golden in color, with a small head, but it has large, powerful feet and claws for ripping apart its prey. Its long, thick tail acts as a prop when the lizard stands on its back legs to look for food. Gould's monitor eats mammals, snakes, and other lizards, and was itself once an important source of food for Austailian Aborigines.
Worm lizards are burrowing reptiles with blunt heads, tiny eyes, and scales arranged in rings. Most of them have no legs, but three species-all from Mexico-have small front legs with five strong toes. These bizarre animals are not true lizards, and they live very differently. They build a system of underground tunnels by using their heads to bulldoze through the soil, and they feed on insects and worms. There are about 130 species of these reptiles. Some lay eggs, but others give birth to live young.
ALL REPTILES! KIDS ONLY FUN PAGE
**All Facts and Information contained in this website can be found in the following reference materials: The Kingfisher Illustrated Animal Encyclopedia and The Complete Book of Animals from The American Education Publishers
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THORNY DEVIL
FLAP-NECKED CHAMELEON
SIX-LINED RACERUNNER
TOKAY GECKO
LEAF-TAILED GECKO
COMMON BLUE-TONGUED SKINK
SAND SKINK
GREEN LIZARD
SLOWWORM
GILA MONSTER
KOMODO DRAGON
GOULD'S MONITOR OR GOULD'S GOANNA
WORM LIZARD OR AMPHISBAENID