The Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum) is a venomous lizard and a reptile.
The Gila Monster is a stocky, slow-moving lizard. It has dark black-brown scales wth pink, yellow, or orange markings. It has a rounded snout (nose). It has short legs and feet, with sharp claws.
The Round Island Skink (Leiolopisma telfairii) is a lizard and a reptile. It is also known as Telfair’s Skink.
The Round Island Skink is iridescent brownish-grey with dark-brown spots. Its body is long and cylindrical. It has short legs.
Its tail can drop off to escape capture, and the tail will re-grow (regenerate).
The Blue Tree Monitor (Varanus macraei) is an arboreal lizard and a reptile. It is also known as the Blue-Spotted Tree Monitor.
The Blue Tree Monitor is black with scattered blue scales. The tip of its nose is light-blue and its lower jaw is white with green scales along its neck, forming a V-shaped pattern. Its legs are spotted with turquoise eye-spots, called ocelli. Its throat is light with dark spots.
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The Fiji Banded Iguana (Brachylophus fasciatus) is an endangered arboreal lizard and a reptile. Iguanas are called iguanids. It is also called the Lau Banded Iguana.
The male Fiji Banded Iguana has two or three white or pale-blue bands across their emerald green body, with spots and stripes. The female is a solid colour of lighter green, with only occasional spots. Both the male and female have a yellow underbelly. It has short crests, or spikes, along their back. It has a dewlap (fold of skin) underneath its chin. It has five long toes on each foot, with sharp claws. It has yellow nostrils.
The Gidgee Spiny-Tailed Skink (Egernia stokesii) is a lizard and a reptile. It is a squamate.
The Gidgee Spiny-Tailed Skink has a thick, flattened body with small eyes. It has 26-36 rows of scales. Its tail is spiny.
The Spiny-Headed Tree Lizard (Plica plica) is an arboreal lizard. It is also called the Collared Tree Lizard, the Collared Tree Runner, or the Harlequin Racerunner.
The Spiny-Headed Tree Lizard is usually olive-green or greenish, with dark-brown mottled markings on its body. Its chin is whitish and its throat is black. Its body is flattened and adapted to living on, and sticking to, the bark of trees. It has a collar, called a ruff, around its neck. It also has spines on its neck. It has green eyes.
The Emerald Tree Monitor (Varanus prasinus) is a medium-sized tree lizard. It is a reptile.
The Emerald Tree Monitor is bright green to turquoise-green with dark bands on its back. It has a long slender body. It has long, prehensile claws and a prehensile tail used to grip or wrap around tree branches.
The Australian Blue-Tongued Lizard (Tiliqua scincoides) is a skink – a reptile. The Eastern Australian Blue-Tongued Lizard (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides) is native specifically to southern and eastern Australia.
The Eastern Australian Blue-Tongued Lizard has a thick body and short legs. It has a distinct head. It has a blue tongue, and flat teeth. It can be varied colours, but is usually brown and brown-grey. The photographed Blue-Tongued Lizard is albino.
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Photographer: Martina Nicolls
The Gould’s Monitor Lizard (Varanus gouldii) is a large Australian reptile, also known as the Sand Goanna, Sand Monitor, or Racehorse Goanna.
The Gould’s Monitor Lizard varies in colour and pattern. Its back can be brown to greenish-grey or almost black, with scattered markings and spots of lighter colours, usually yellowish to cream. Its underbelly is yellow or cream with dark markings. Usually it has a black stripe on the side of its head, with cream or yellowish stripes above and below the black stripe. Its tail is light-brown or black, with a white or yellow tip. It has a forked tongue. It has long, sharp claws.
How do lizards walk upside down?
Many lizards, such as geckos and skinks, can walk upside down and climb up walls. They have special toe pads that can support their weight.
Their toe pads have microscopic hairs or bristles, called setae, that act like Velcro, enabling their feet to stick to surfaces.
On each of the setae are millions of even smaller tips, called septulae. Each one can grip the surface.
The White-Throated Savannah Monitor Lizarad (Varanus albigularis albigularis) is a medium-sized lizard from southern Africa. It is a reptile.
The White-Throated Savannah Monitor is grey or brown with a pronounced bulbous head, and large ear holes and large nostrils. It has 3-8 white cross-bars or rows of white sports on its body. The top of the head is dark, and its underbelly is paler. It has short legs with large claws on its feet. It has small eyes with round pupils. It forked tongue is long and blue.
The Green Iguana (Iguana iguana) is also known as the American Iguana, or just Iguana. It is a large arboreal lizard, native to Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. It is a reptile.
The Green Iguana is not always green. It can be various colours, such as blue, purplish, and pinkish. It is a strong, stout-bodied lizard, with a row of spines on its back and tail to protect itself from predators. Its tail can be ‘dropped’ to allow it to escape danger. The tail can be regenerated (re-grown).
The Rhinoceros Iguana (Cyclura cornuta) is a large reptile – it is a lizard.
The Rhinoceros Iguana is grey-brown or grey-green. It has a bony horn-like lump on its nose, which looks like a rhinoceros horn. It has a crest of pointed scales from the nape of its neck to to the tip of its long tail. It has blue eyes.
The Gippsland Water Dragon (Intellagama lesueurii howittii) is an arboreal eastern Australian agamid lizard. It is a reptile.
The Gippsland Water Dragon is a brown-green-grey lizard with a row of spikes at the base of its head (called a nuchal crest). Its throat has yellow, orange, or blue blotches. It has black bands across its back, tail, and legs. It has long legs and claws, which are good for climbing trees, and a long, muscular tail, which is good for swimming. It can change colour to camouflage itself in its environment. It has brown eyes.
What’s the difference between a Nile Monitor and a Savannah Monitor Lizard?
The Nile Monitor Lizard is not as stocky as the Savannah Monitor Lizard.
The Nile Monitor Lizard has a narrower snout than the Savannah Monitor Lizard.
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The Savannah Monitor (Varanus exanthematicus) is a medium-sized African lizard, living in East Africa, southern Africa, and some areas of West Africa. It is a reptile.
The Savannah Monitor Lizard has a blackish or dark grey body, with five or six rows of yellow blotches, but there can be other colour variations. It has a broad, bulbous snout and a rounded tail. It has short legs.
The Nile Monitor (Varanus niloticus) is a medium-sized African lizard. It is found in most of Africa, except West Africa. It is a reptile – the second largest reptile in the Nile River (second to the Nile Crocodile).
The Nile Monitor has mainly grey-brown muscular body with rough scales, green-yellow bars on its tail and green-yellow irregular spots on its back. It has a yellowish throat and underbelly. They have short, strong legs, with sharp claws. They use the claws for digging, climbing, and for defense. Their long tail is powerful, which they can whip in defense.
It has powerful jaws with sharp, pointed teeth that become blunt with age, and a snake-like, forked tongue. It has large nostrils on its snout, and it has an excellent sense of smell. It is a good climber and swimmer.
The Rhinoceros Chameleon (Furcifer rhinoceratus) is a chameleon lizard with a horn-like nose. It is a reptile from Madagascar.
The male Rhinoceros Chameleon has a long horn-like nose above its mouth, with the horns pointing forward. The female has a smaller nose. It is generally grey or light brown and the nose can often be bluish. They have a white line on each side of their body.
What’s the difference between the African Eastern Striped Skink and the African Five-Lined Skink?
The African Eastern Striped Skink (Trachylepis striata striata) and the African Five-Lined Skink are lizards found in East Africa and southern Africa. They are similar in size and colour.
The African Eastern Striped Skink has two yellowish stripes that run lengthwise on either side of the spine, whereas the Five-Lined Skink has five lines.