I was trying to think of a good animal to do a quick post on, but everything needed a lot more research. Of course, I got to thinking about types of animals that are too numerous for me to do a post about. Lizards came to mind since there are so many of them. There are some pretty odd and amazing species out there too. Let’s look at 9 of them:
The frilled lizard is from Australia and New Guinea. I’ve liked this one since I was a kid because it looked silly. When threatened, it gets on its back legs and opens its frill to go running.
The Basilisk is called the Jesus lizard for a good reason. It runs on water to escape predators. It can’t go forever, but it can go enough that it gets away.
This is not Godzilla, but you can see the resemblance. The marine iguana is found on the Galapagos islands and are the only lizards to have a marine lifestyle. When diving, they can spend up to an hour underwater without coming up for air.
We’ve done land and sea, so here is the Draco Lizard with air. Using flaps of skin, they are able to glide among the trees.
The armadillo girdled lizard is heavily armored and found along the desert coast of South Africa. They curl into a ball when threatened, which protects their underbellies and makes them look like an Ouroboros (serpent/dragon eating its own tail).
The Satanic Leaf-Tailed Gecko . . . I mean, just look at it and see the name. It deserves to be in this post.
I’ll probably do a Komodo Dragon post down the road, but I couldn’t keep it off this list. This is the world’s largest lizard and it is an aggressive, deadly predator. It is one of the few lizards with a venomous bite as if this beast needs any other weapons besides its claws, teeth, and tail.
The Pinocchio lizard is also called the horned anole or the Ecuadorian anole. The males have the long nose, which is used for courtship displays. They are considered endangered due to habitat loss.
This isn’t a snake. There are 8 families of legless lizards, which have none or tiny, useless limbs. Unlike snakes, they have eyelids, external ear openings, no broad belly scales, a broad tongue instead of forked, two equal lungs, and a long tail. Skeletally, snakes actually have a long body and short tail while these guys are the opposite.
This last one is just so colorful. It is called the common agama, red-headed rock agama, or rainbow agama. They are found in Sub-Saharan Africa. Really they just look really cool with all their colors.
Let’s get some videos:
Legends of Windemere 
I love these guys. I watched the new Jurassic Park film last night. Shades of dilophosaurus.
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I read that those dinos were inspired by these guys.
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There’s such diversity. Lizards are cool!
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Lots of odd ones to choose from.
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The pictures and videos were great. I’m not sure I would want one of those running at me with their mouth open.
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Same here. Though they’re not that big. It would still be freaky.
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Yes.
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Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog and commented:
See all of them, plus videos, on Charles’ original blog post 😃
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Thanks for sharing.
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The frilled lizard looks scary when its frill is open it appears to be a much larger animal charging towards the camera.
And the marine iguana looks truly scary. It’s amazing that it can stay underwater for an hour. How does that compare with cetatians? (Can’t spell it!) I must look it up.
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I think the frill effect is supposed to make it look bigger. That’s a fairly common defense mechanism. It looks like most cetaceans aren’t more an hour too. Must be a natural limit to sac-like lungs.
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Super post, Charles! I’m a reptile lover (especially snakes) and lizards fascinate me, though I’m no expert, by any means. You had a couple here today I’ve never seen before, and the videos were really fun! Thanks for sharing. I’m WAY behind on my blogging, but I’ve got to find time to keep up with your animals series. Wonderful!
😊🦎😊
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You’re welcome. I don’t know much about reptiles. So, it was fun to look these up enough for a post.
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I know more about snakes, especially our central Florida species, than lizards, but I’m always interested in reptiles. (I do know a fair amount about our really BIG one, the American alligator, but that’s kinda cheating a bit. He’s hard to miss.) Thanks again for a fun post to start the week. 😊🐊
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Our modern day dragons. 🙂 Great photos and clips, Charles. 🙂
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Thanks. 😁
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Love the rainbow agama. The first photo looks like the velociraptor in Jurassic Park.
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I can see it. Think it inspired the dilophosaurus.
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I think so.
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Reblogged this on NEW BLOG HERE >> https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
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Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks for sharing this very impressive information. I love all of these guys. Best wishes, Michael
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Glad you enjoyed it.
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Pingback: *Press This* Strange and Silly Lizards #249 | Its good to be crazy Sometimes
Fun fact about the Galapagos iguana. It drinks salt water, and sneezes the salt out its nose! Fun adaptation. : )
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I think I did read that. Gross, but cool. Make for a nice monster attack if done on a bigger scale.
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Funny thought! Villain is “buggered.”
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Sure, it is most uncommon to want to kiss each gorgeous little face… but, I’ll be the 1st and probably only to admit it. Great beings to share & photos as well.
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Glad you enjoyed it.
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Thank you for sharing. Have always been wanting to go there. Such an awesome and exotic place.
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You’re welcome.
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It’s our pleasure
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