Lizard Classification

Chinese water dragon (family Agamidae) (© Jakub Hałun, Wikimedia Commons)

Lizard Classification Table

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 Lizard Taxonomy and Identification.

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)