Family Varanidae
Monitor Lizards
Squamata is the largest group of reptiles with 7588 species and hundreds
more waiting to be discovered. They have scaly bodies with short or small,
useless limbs. Many species have no legs at all. They all range in a wide
variety of sizes and colours. There are 3 suborders, Sauria, Serpentes, and Amphisbaenia.
Sauria (lizards)
There are 4503 species of lizards alive today in 26 families. Most species
have limbs, although some are limbless. The legless lizards can be
recognized apart from snakes by the lidded eyes and the rounded tongue.
The largest lizard is the Komodo dragon, the smallest the Antillan gecko.
The 26 families are:
The last 7 families were at one time grouped in the family Iguanidae.
Agamidae (agamas) 369 spp
Chamaeleonidae (chameleons) 157 spp
Iguanidae (iguanas) 35 spp
Gekkonidae (geckoes) 1000 spp
Pygopodidae (legless lizards) 35 spp
Dibamidae (blind lizards) 14 spp
Cordylidae (spinytail lizards) 51 spp
Gerrhosauridae (plated lizards) 29 spp
Gymnophthalmidae (spectacled lizards) 183 spp
Teiidae (whiptails, tugus) 117 spp
Lacertidae (wall lizards) 264 spp
Scincidae (skinks) 1217 spp
Xantusiidae (night lizards) 24 spp
Anguidae (glass snakes, lateral fold lizards) 110 spp
Anniellidae (American glass lizards) 2 spp
Xenosauridae (knob-scaled lizards) 5 spp
Helodermatidae (Gila monsters) 2 spp
Lanthanotidae (earless monitors) 1 spp
Varanidae (monitors) 52 spp
Corytophanidae (casquehead lizards) 9 spp
Crotaphytidae (collared lizards) 10 spp
Hoplocercidae 10 spp
Opluridae (Madagascar iguanids) 7 spp
Phrynosomatidae (earless lizards) 125 spp
Polychrotidae (anoles) 395 spp
Tropiduridae (neotropical ground lizards) 280 spp
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