To provide you with additional information about how we collect and use your personal data, we’ve recently updated our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. Please review these pages now, as they apply to your continued use of our website.
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia although some lizards are more closely related to these two excluded groups than they are to other lizards. Lizards range in size from chameleons and geckos a few centimeters long to the 3-meter-long Komodo dragon. Most lizards are quadrupedal, running with a strong side-to-side motion. Some lineages (known as legless lizards), have secondarily lost their legs, and have long snake-like bodies.