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.

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)

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.)

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

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)

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

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)

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.)

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.)

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

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)

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

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)