Lizard Classification

Lizard Classification Table

Chinese water dragon (family Agamidae) (Wikimedia Commons)

Suborder	Infraorder	Family	Common Name	Genera	Species
Sauria	Iguania	Agamidae	Water Dragons	53	300
		Iguanidae	Iguanas	55	650
		Chamaeleontidae	Chameleons	4	85
	Gekkota	Gekkonidae	Geckos	85	800
		Pygopodidae	Snake lizards	1	31
	Scincomorpha	Lacertidae	Wall and sand lizards	25	200
		Teiidae	Tegus, whiptails	39	227
		Xantusiidae	Desert night lizards	1	16
		Scincidae	Skinks	85	1275
		Cordylidae	Girdle-tailed lizards	10	50
		Dibamidae	Blind lizards	1	4
	Anguinomorpha	Xenosauridae	Crocodile lizards	1	4
		Anguidae	Anguids	8	75
		Helodermatidae	Beaded lizard, Gila Monster	1	2
		Varanidae	Monitors	1	31
		Lanthanotidae	Borneo earless lizard	1	1

• For more information on the lizard taxonomy, see the Lizard Taxonomy and Identification page.

Families

Agamidae

• Family of lizards of the old world
• Acrodont dentition
• Includes the agama (Agama agama), frilled lizard (Chamydosaurus kingii), water dragon (Psysignathus cocincinus), Egyptian spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx aegyptius) and the sail-fin lizard (Hydrosaurus pustulatus)

Iguanidae

• Family of lizards in the new world and a few species in the Indian Ocean region
• Pleurodont dentition
• Includes the green iguana (Iguana iguana), the green anole (Anolis carolinensis), basilisks (Basiliscus spp.), horned lizards (Phrynosoma spp.) spiny lizards (Sceloporus spp.) and West Indian rock iguanas (Cyclura spp.)

Chamaeleontidae

• Old world or true chameleons
• Anatomical differences from other lizards may include astonishingly long tongues, ability for colour change, oppositely opposable digits and prehensile tails.
• Generally viviparous

Gekkonidae

• Geckos
• Large and diverse family which have colonised all tropical areas and extended into temperature regions
• Primarily nocturnal insectivores
• Anatomical differences from other lizards may include toe-pads, eyelids that have fused and are transparent as in snakes and eyes that move independently and are usually large
• When subjected to daylight the pupils contract to a narrow slit with a series of pinholes
• Generally oviparous with one to two eggs laid but some are viviparous
• Three subfamilies are Eublepharine (no toe-pads), Sphaerodactylinae and Gekkoninae
• Includes the commonly kept leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius)

Pygopodidae

• Includes snake lizards (Lialis spp.) and the scalyfoot (Pygopus spp.) which are without forelimbs and their hindlimbs are reduced to flaps of skin

Lacertidae

• Wall or sand lizards of the old world
• Insectivorous
• All oviparous except the viviparous lizard (Lacerta vivapara)
• Includes the oscellated green lizard (Lacerta lepida), rock lizard (Lacerta saxicola)

Teiidae

• New world equivalents of the Lacertidae
• The smaller are insectivorous and the larger carnivorous
• Includes the whiptails and racerunners (Cnemidophorus spp.), jungle runners (Ameiva spp.) and tegus (Tupinambis spp.)

Xantusiidae

• Desert night lizards
• Xantusia spp.

Scincidae

• True skinks
• Little sexual dimorphism
• Includes the blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua spp.), prehensile-tailed skink (Corucia zebrata), five-lined skink (Eumeces fasciatus) and the casqueheads (Tribolonotus spp.)

Cordylidae

• Zonures or girdle-tailed lizards
• All require very hot, dry conditions
• Includes Cordylus spp.

Dibamidae

• Blind lizards
• Dibamus and Anelytropsis spp.

Xenosauridae

• Consists of the Chinese crocodile-tailed lizard (Shinisaurus crocodiluris) and the new world xenosaurs (Xenosaurus spp.)

Anguidae

• Long and snake-like in form
• In America, Asia, Africa and Europe but species are not numerous
• Both oviparous and viviparous species, both diurnal and nocturnal species and generally terrestrial
• Insectivorous or carnivorous
• Includes slow-worm (Anguis fragilis), alligator lizards (Elgaria spp.), glass lizards (Ophisaurus spp.) legless lizards (Annelia spp.) and the sheltopusik (Ophisaurus apodus)

Helodermatidae

• Two species that are the only venomous lizards
• Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum) and the Mexican beaded lizard (Heloderma horridum)

Varanidae

• Monitor lizards
• Mostly large powerful predators or carrion eaters
• Includes the savannah monitor (Varanus exanthematicus), Nile monitor (Varanus niloticus) and the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis)

Lanthanotidae

• Monotypic family
• The Bornean earless lizard (Lanthanotus borneensis)