The lizard or lizard is part of a group of animals known as reptiles, which are most closely related to snakes.
Many lizards today resemble ancient reptiles in the age of the dinosaurs, and their ancestors appeared on earth since More than 200 million years, and in general, the lizard is characterized by a small head, a short neck, a long body, and a tail.
Unlike snakes, most lizards have movable eyelids, and there are currently more than 4,675 species of lizards, including iguanas, chameleons, geckos, Gila monsters, and the monitor lizard. And the skink.
Fascinating facts about lizards
Most lizards have eyelids just as we do, and they clean and protect their eyes when they blink, but some lizards, such as geckos, cannot blink. Instead, they have a clear membrane that protects their eyes from dirt or bright sunlight.
Lizards use their tongue to clean their eyes.
Many lizards, such as iguanas, can see in color, and their colorful body parts allow them to communicate with each other and help them identify males and females.
The lizard smells things with its tongue, just like snakes, where the lizard sticks out its tongue to catch odor particles in the air, then pulls its tongue back and places those
particles on the roof of its mouth, where there are special sensory cells, and the lizard can use these scent clues to find food or a mate or to discover Enemies, the lizard does
not have an ear like mammals, and instead has visible ear openings to capture sound, and the eardrum has just below the surface of its skin, however, the lizard cannot hear as well as we do, but its hearing is better than that of snakes.
The lizard is characterized by dry skin and scales that do not grow with its body.
Instead, most lizards shed their old skin or peel it off in large flakes to make way for the new skin to grow underneath.
The exception is the crocodile lizard, whose skin may fall off as one piece like a snake, and it varies.
The scales on the lizard depend on its habitat. The skink lizard has soft scales so that the mud does not cling to it.
Some types of lizards contain bony plates called osteoderms under their scales for more protection against rough terrain.
The lizard is a common prey for many types of predators, from birds of prey to snakes and carnivorous mammals, and its camouflage and ability to remain still for
hours helps maintain its safety, and several types of lizards are able to escape from the grip of the enemy by cutting off part of their tail, The tail has only
a soft spot for this purpose, and if a predator grabs a hyena by the tail, it will easily break off the tail, and it can grow back over time, though the tail will not look the same.
Lizards have different ways of staying safe, the horned lizard is able to pump blood from the tiny blood vessels in its eyes to scare or confuse a predator, the armadillo has sharp, spiky scales and can
roll into a tight ball to protect its soft belly from attack, the snugger lizard is distinguished With remarkable spines covering its body, including the tail, the crocodile
lizard bites, whacks, or empties foul-smelling excrement, and the tropical belt lizard lunges into a crevasse, stretches out its body, and pins itself so tightly that a predator cannot remove it.
Lizard habitat and diet
The lizard can be found on every continent except Antarctica, and it lives in all habitats except for the very cold regions and deep oceans.
Most lizards live on land, but others can be found making their home in a tree, in a hole, or in the water.
The tree dweller has special long toes with sharp claws, or short and wide.
It often has a prehensile tail for grasping delicate branches.
Burrow-dwelling lizards tend to have smaller legs, or no legs at all, to help them move underground more easily.
Marine iguanas spend most of their lives underwater, although they do come ashore.
To rest on rocks or a sandy beach, desert dwellers such as geckos usually sleep during the day under the warm sand and then come out when the sun goes down.
Different types of lizards eat different types of food, some of them are predators that eat mammals, birds and other reptiles, others are vegetarians
that eat leaves, fruits and flowers, two of which are venomous, the Gila beast and the Mexican lizard, and their venom comes from the salivary glands in the jaw, and the lizards chew it inside
the victim, and the caiman lizards Adept at eating snails and other animals with scales, and when seizing the snail, the lizard raises its head and loosens its grip, causing the snail to slide to the back of its
mouth, then bites with flattened teeth that resemble molars and cracks the shell, and by alternating bites and rotating the snail with the tongue, the lizard removes the shell Completely the pieces are pushed out of the mouth.
Lizard breeding
Male lizards use a variety of methods to attract the attention of a female, vigorously shaking their heads or displaying their bright colors or best features.
The green anole lizard inflates a rust-colored sac to win the female of its choice, sometimes maintaining this display for hours.
The red-headed agama lizard is a lizard. brown-skinned African, but when the male needs to make sure others see
him his head turns fiery red and his body and tail change to a bright bright blue, other males may fight with each other until the weaker one surrenders.
Most female lizards lay soft, leathery eggs and then visit them daily.
They do not stick to the eggs to protect the eggs from.