Lizards

An anole lizard holding on to a perch by its toepads during simulated hurricane-force winds.

Hurricanes Make Lizards Evolve Bigger Toe Pads

New study extends previous results limited to just two islands to 188 species of lizard across Caribbean as well as Central and South America

Despite how this iguana looks, it is actually note dead, just cold-stunned. It will likely thaw-out as the sun warms it back up.

Florida’s Weather Forecast? Cold, With a Chance of Iguanas

Stunned by chilly weather, the invasive lizards were dropping out of trees in the Sunshine State

Komodo Dragons Have Skin That Looks Like Chain Mail

CT scans show layered bone covers the adult reptile's body, likely to protect them when fighting for mates and food

Sketches of the salamanders.

New Giant Salamander Species Is the World's Largest Amphibian

A new study has revealed that Chinese giant salamander consists not of one species, but three

The almost 3-year-old female offspring (left) and her 12-year-old mother (right)

The National Zoo’s Female Asian Water Dragon Successfully Reproduced Without a Male

This is the first time facultative parthenogenesis has been recorded in both the species and the reptilian Agamidae family

Australia Has Several New Dragon Lizard Species—and One May Already Be Extinct

A new study shows the endangered grassland earless dragon is actually four separate reptile species—and one hasn't been seen since 1969

This is why we can't have nice things.

Indonesia Considers Closing Komodo Island Because Poachers Keep Stealing the Dragons

Komodo National Park may put the island off limits to restore degraded habitat and help its iconic giant lizards and their prey recover

Mexican Fireleg Tarantula

Thousands of Creepy Crawlies Stolen From Philadelphia Insectarium

Police suspect three current or former employees swiped the animals

Anolis scriptus, the Turks and Caicos anole, on Pine Cay

Lizards With Bigger Toes and Smaller Hind Legs Survive Hurricanes

A serendipitous study comparing the physical traits of lizards before and after 2017's hurricane season shows natural selection in action

Megachirella, the mother-of-all-lizards (and snakes).

Oldest Lizard Fossil Shows These Reptiles Are The Ultimate Survivors

The 250-million-year-old specimen from the Alps suggests that lizards evolved before Earth's largest mass extinction—and thrived after it

These Lizards Evolved Toxic Green Blood

The strange trait has developed four separate times and may protect the skinks from certain malaria strains

What's a dinosaur, anyways? The answer is in the evolutionary tree.

What Makes a Dinosaur a Dinosaur?

The question may sound like a "duh," but it gets to the heart of how we categorize and define nature

Taxonomic vandalism can have disastrous consequences for wildlife conservation—but it could also impact human health. Shown here, an African spitting cobra poised to strike.

A Few Bad Scientists Are Threatening to Topple Taxonomy

Naming species forms the foundation of biology—but these rogue researchers are exposing the flaws in the system

An artist's rendering of the new species Teleocrater rhadinus hunting a cynodont, a close relative of mammals.

Before There Were Dinosaurs, There Was This Weird Crocodile-Looking Thing

A new analysis of an ancient enigma offers clues as to how dino evolution unfolded

A gecko uses millions of tiny hairs to cling powerfully to surfaces. A new device exploits this adaptation by using ultraviolet light as a switch.

Scientists Can Turn This Gecko-Inspired Gripping Device On or Off With the Flick of a Light

The mighty lizard inspires yet another innovation that could prove a boon to robotics and manufacturing

Reptiles Can't Fly. But This One Glides Like a Pro

Draco, a type of lizard that lives in trees in Southeast Asia, has evolved flaps of skin on its flanks

How does a lizard that looks like a rose stem mated with a cactus suck water out of the desert?

This Spike-Crested Lizard Drinks From Sand With Its Skin

The thirsty, thorny devils of Australia's deserts can’t quench their thirst with tongues alone

Crocodiles sun themselves at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Buena Vista, Florida in 2012.

Forced Closer to Humans, Crocodiles Face Their Greatest Existential Threat

These armored reptiles have long been considered indestructible, but new threats are shifting the equation

These ancient amber fossils from Burma in Southeast Asia help complete the patchy record of lizard evolution.

Pint-Sized Lizards Trapped in Amber Give Clues to Life 100 Million Years Ago

The trove of Cretaceous reptiles includes an early relative of the chameleon—the oldest yet discovered

Were these small prints left by Stone Age babies...or lizards?

“Baby Hands” on Rock Paintings Were Probably Lizard Prints

The prints could have held symbolic meaning for Stone Age humans

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