Lizards belong to the class of reptiles with defining characteristics include a long tail,
two pairs of legs that stick outwards from the body, and scales.
Most lizards are cold blooded animals, so, they use the environment to regulate their
warmth. This strategy helps them conserve energy in
the cold and rapidly ramp up their body temperature in the heat.
Different species of lizards have different distinct characteristics making them interesting
to study. Keep watching this video as we are counting
down the 10 most beautiful lizards in the world.
Number 10. Superb fan-throated lizards are small, colourful
reptiles found in the dry shrublands and coastal areas of South Asia.
The male superb fan throated lizards possess a flap of skin under their lower jaw, called
the dewlap. Before the mating season, dewlaps start developing
bright blue, black and orange coloured patches, which have earned this lizard its name.
Often, males are seen perched on rocks in open rocky areas, such that their dewlap is
visible to all lizards in the surroundings, both of the same and the opposite sex.
This behaviour indicates that male lizards are likely signalling to multiple receivers.
Their reproductive success, by finding mates and fending off competitors, depends on successfully
communicating this signal.
Number 9. Found in most of sub-Saharan Africa, agama
lizards are active during the day and usually bask in the morning sun to regulate their
body temperatures. If the temperatures soar higher, then they
withdraw to shady places or burrows. If threatened, they can run quickly and hide
among crevices, or may attempt to conceal themselves by changing their bright colors
to blend with the surroundings. Agamas live in social groups including a lead
male, about half a dozen females, and subordinate males. Because of this, male agamas are territorial
and must fight other males to claim their space.
Subordinate males can only gain their own group if they eliminate the existing lead
male (the "cock") or establish a colony outside all other cocks' territory.
Only the cock is allowed to mate with the females and the center of a cock's territory
is usually marked by the presence of a physical object, such as a tree or boulder, on which
the lizards congregate.
Number 8. Endemic to North American, the five-lined
skinks are moderately large lizards with short legs and a streamlined body.
The body is generally gray, brown, or black, in background color with five white or yellowish
stripes, two on each side and one down the center of the back.
Young have a bright blue tail while adult males often loose their stripes and develop
reddish or orange coloration on the head. This species is very similar in appearance
to the southeastern five-lined skink and broadhead skink and is usually only identifiable by
close examination of the scales, where the five-lined skinks have an enlarged
row of scales under the tail and four labial, along the upper lip between the nose and eye
scales. Preying on a wide variety of insects, spiders
and other invertebrates, this lizard is a ground-dwelling animal.
It prefers moist, partially wooded habitat that provides ample cover or inside walls
of buildings, trees as well as sites to bask in the sun.
Number 7. Endemic to South Africa, the Augrabies flat
lizard is also known as Broadley's flat lizard, in honor of herpetologist Donald G. Broadley.
With their flat bodies, and short legs, these lizards are able to go under large objects
such as rocks, and able to run fast, as long as making impressive jumps and leaps.
Adult males have a bluish head and a greenish back. A darker area in the middle and the
vestiges of the juvenile stripes and spots are also present.
The forelimbs are yellow to orange, the throat is dark blue, and the belly is black in the
front but becomes orange near the tail. All this coloration, while helping them to
attract females, it also enables predators such as kestrels to spot them easily.
These flat lizards have been discovered to have a much higher visual sensitivity to UV
light than other lizards species, allowing males to accurately distinguish between conspecifics
of various fitness. In other words, the higher the UV levels on
a male's throat, the more dominant it is and is less likely to be challenged.
Number 6. Native to Northwestern Madagascar, the gold
day dust gecko is a diurnal species of gecko that inhabits various kinds of trees and houses.
The body colour is a bright green or yellowish green or rarely blue.
Typical for this day gecko are the yellow speckles on the neck and the upper back, as
long as the three rust-coloured transverse bars on the snout and head.
The males of this species are rather aggressive and can be quite quarrelsome, where they do
not accept other males in their territory. In captivity, where the females cannot escape,
the males may also seriously wound a female. These day geckos feed on various insects and
other invertebrates, and are also capable of eating other smaller lizards.
They also eat soft, sweet fruit and pollen and nectar from flowers, often congregating
in groups of many individuals to feed off of one plant.
Number 5. The common green forest lizard is an agamid
lizard found in the forests of the Western Ghats and the Shevaroy Hills in India, and
Sri Lanka. With the head comparatively large to the rest
of the body, it is a quite large lizard that can reach up to 65cm including the tail.
The green forest lizard is bright green, usually with white stripes on the sides, which may
also vary in color, for example, a darker green and can continue on the tail as well.
The male develops a bright red colouration on the head and throat in breading season
otherwise the head is just bright green or more yellowish green to brown in males and
females. To a certain extent, the animals are able
to change their color. This is especially true for the males in the mating season but
also stress or excitement has an influence.
Number 4. The green thornytail iguana is an arboreal
species of lizard from the Amazon rainforest and forests in the Guiana Shield.
This lizard is a relatively small iguana where it can reach about 9cm (3.5 in) in snout to
vent length. With a relatively short spiny tail, the green
thornytail iguana mainly feeds on ants. Overall appearance, it is green with black
spots and bands, which allow it to blend in properly with the dark and green background
of the forest it inhabits, thus making it harder for this lizard to be
spotted by predators.
Number 3. Found in dry, open regions of Mexico and the
south-central United States, the collared lizard is distinguished by the two black collars
around its neck. Adult males have bright green scales as well
as tan, olive, brown, bluish and yellow scales while the females are less colorful.
These lizards prefer spending most of their time on and around rocky areas beacause these
areas provide shelter from the sun and predators. Like many other lizards, including the frilled
lizard and basilisk, collared lizards can run on their hind legs, and are relatively
fast sprinters. Record speeds have been around 16 miles per
hour (26 km/h). They also do not lose their tail very easily,
but if they do, it does not grow back.
Number 2. Endemic to the highlands of the states of
Veracruz and adjacent Puebla, Mexico, Mexican alligator lizards have prehensile tails and
overlapping scales, giving them an extremely prehistoric appearance.
Alligator lizards range from teal blue to deep green with pale yellow bellies and a
yellow ring around each eye. Males tend to be more vibrant than females,
while juveniles are paler and marked with dark, lateral stripes.
This lizard is considered to be moderately common and is regularly recorded, but its
abundance is decreasing. These lizards eat a wide variety of insects
and other arthropods in the wild, while in captivity, they thrive off of crickets, phoenix
worms, horn worms, and other live feeder insects. As they inhabit bromeliads in the canopy of
montane pine-oak and cloud forest, deforestation and degradation of habitat has caused Mexican
alligator lizards to be considered as endangered.
Number 1. When it comes to beauty and coloration, very
few can beat the chameleons. With 171 species of chameleons known today,
it is hard to point out which one is the most beautiful because of their ability to change
their color. However, it is a misconception that chameleons
change colors to match their surroundings. Changing skin color is an important part of
communication among chameleons. A chameleon's skin changes colors in response
to its emotions, such as anger or fear, changes in light, temperature or humidity.
The brighter the color, the more dominant the male is, and the more attractive he is
to females. Besides changing skin color, chameleons have
another feature that no other animals have. Their eyes can move independently of each
other, enabling them to look in two different directions at once.
Chameleons have a full 360-degree view and can focus their eyes quickly and enlarge what
they are looking at like a camera lens.