Types of Lizards

Lizard Resources Lizard Pictures

Lizard is a generic name given to approximately three thousand five hundred different reptile species that, more often than not, can be found living in warm, dry climates around the world.

With well over one thousand documented species, skinks, members of the Scincidae family, constitute the largest lizard family. Their presence in the United States, however, is limited to approximately fifteen different species.

The approximately one hundred and twenty lizard species native to the United States, including skinks, fall into eleven different lizard families.

The forty five species (not including sub-species) of the family Phrynosomatidae, generally called spiny lizards, are the most abundant and probably the most familiar United States lizards. Phrynosomatidae break down into nine genera, based primarily on physical differences or habitat preferences.

• Earless Lizards - Genus Holbrookia
• Fringe-toed Lizards - Genus Uma
• Greater Earless Lizards - Genus Cophosaurus
• Horned Lizards - Genus Phrynosoma
• Rock Lizards - Genus Petrosaurus
• Side-blotched Lizards - Genus Uta
• Spiny Lizards - Genus Sceloporus
• Tree Lizards - Genus Urosaurus
• Zebra-tailed Lizards - Genus Callisaurus

The lizard pictures link in the box takes you to pictures and descriptions of a variety of Phrynosomatidae lizards, as well as additional native and non-native lizard species.

© 2008. Patricia A. Michaels