What’s the weirdest thing
about a gecko?
That doesn’t even begin
to describe how weird
some of these reptiles can get.
Get ready for the
Weighing in at an average of 70 kg (154 lb),
the last wild Komodo dragons can be found
in southern Indonesia.
And if you run into one, try not to get bitten.
Their serrated teeth are always dripping
with bits of their last meal.
When a komodo bites, it injects you with venom
and up to 50 different kinds of bacteria
that live in those bits of food.
Some of these bacteria are septic.
And it’s only a matter of time before you fall,
and the Komodo sniffs its way to your dying body.
It can smell prey as far as 4 km (2.5 mi) away.
And it will try to eat almost anything
from rodents and beetles
to a horse.
Of course.
This funny little lizard loves its oversized
ant lunches so much
it can barely move after a hearty meal.
That might be why it evolved to pull some really weird
defense tricks
like squirting poisonous blood from its
eyes
to gross coyotes and wild cats away.
And certain Crazy Creatures voice over people.
Bye.
OK I'm back.
No larger than a deck of cards,
the horned lizard knows its enemies well.
For hard-to-out-run whip snakes,
the Texas horned lizard camouflages itself
to look like a rock.
And for predators that swallow their prey whole,
this lizard spreads its ribs and puffs up its chest
to look like it is going to be very difficult to gulp down.
It's also known as the jewel-eyed gecko
because, well, check out those hypnotic devilish red eyes.
This endangered Australian gecko
gets its name from the bright yellow stripe on its tail.
And you'd better watch out for that tail.
When cornered by a predator,
this gecko's tail shoots out a slimy liquid
that smells disgusting.
Tiny spines on the tail
help aim this liquid as far as 1 m (3.3 ft).
And if you think you can dodge that slime by hiding,
those red eyes can see 250 times
better than yours.
They can even see full color in moonlight.
If you scare this very dramatic lizard,
it will flick open the colorful fold of skin around its neck
and rise on its hind legs.
This is supposed to make this 500 g (1.1 lb) lizard
look big and scary.
But if that doesn’t work,
the frilled neck lizard is quick
to put its two little legs to good use and dart away,
looking like a Shakespearean character
on a make-believe bicycle.
Its frill also helps regulate the lizards' body temperature
when they sunbathe.
The thorny devil could have been a lot scarier
if it weren’t only a medium
21 cm (8 in)-sized lizard.
I mean, just look at that scaly skin.
Adding to its creepiness
is the false head it likes to carry on the back of its neck.
It serves to confuse predators while the thorny devil
tucks its real head in between its legs.
A thorny devil will also inflate its chest
to look bigger
and changes colors throughout the day.
And there's also its very groovy walk,
which aids the thorny devil's camouflage abilities.
Grooving on over to number 5.
Much like its namesake, the armadillo girdled lizard
likes to protect its soft underbelly
by rolling into a ball.
But this quirky little fellow
achieves that by sticking its tail in its mouth.
And it can stay in that position for up to an hour.
Although it will shy away from humans,
it likes other armadillo lizards a lot.
You can find them and their large families
hiding in rock crevices across South Africa.
Sunbathing is a popular group activity for armadillo lizards.
There's safety in numbers.
This colorful lizard is the largest lizard you can find
in the United States.
It’s also one of the few
poisonous lizards in the world.
But it isn’t quite the folkloric monster it’s made out to be.
The gila monster’s venom is a mild neurotoxin
that wouldn’t kill you.
But man, does its bite hurt.
Gila monsters only transmit their venom as a defense.
Usually, their bite is strong enough to kill prey.
The lethargic Gilas spend most days holed up underground.
That chunky tail is full of fat
and helps them go for months without food.
The mossy leaf-tailed gecko is truly
a master of disguise.
Its unique coloration,
flat profile and a skin flap around its body
allow it to hide in plain sight.
Staying dead still,
this clever lizard blends so seamlessly
into mossy tree barks and leaves,
that it is impossible to find during the daytime.
Its large yellow eyes with elliptical pupils
help it see at night when it goes hunting.
Are dragons real? You'd better think twice
because this Draco lizard is about to blow your mind.
That’s right, this 20 cm (8 in) lizard
from Southeast Asia
has folds of skin between its expandable ribs
that unfurl into spectacular wings.
They catch the wind
to allow the Draco to glide distances
of up to 30.5 m (100 ft).
Its tail works as a rudder.
There’s another expandable flap of skin under its head
that looks like a flag at full mast.
But this is used mostly for display.
The adult female, measuring at just 2.9 cm (1.14 in),
could fit on two of your fingertips.
And the male is even smaller.
These Madagascan floor-dwelling reptiles
could be the tiniest on the planet.
They hunt during the day and climb up on grass blades
at night.
When the blades move, they jump to the floor
to hide from predators.
Only two specimens were found in 2012
by a German-Madagascan expedition.
And everything we know about the Brookesia nana
so far, is based on studying them.
Which lizard did you think was the weirdest
and which would you most like to encounter in the wild?
Hiding in plain sight
and squirting blood from their eyes is what some lizards do.
And that’s what makes them Crazy Creatures.