Bright lizard. Lizards

Pets living with us in the same apartment or house are becoming more sophisticated and interesting. The classic ones are becoming less and less common: cats, dogs and birds. Increasingly, people are bringing in various insects, arachnids and reptiles. Various kinds of lizards are especially common, and this is not surprising, because many of them are very cute and friendly, which allows each of them to become a replacement for the notorious cat or puppy.

Lizards suitable for home life, weight. IN this material Some of the most popular ones have been collected. With a description of their features, as well as photo materials for each type.

Chameleons

Yemen chameleon– quite popular, often found as pet, view. The reason for such love for the Yemeni chameleon was its unpretentiousness in housing conditions and nutrition. Appearance: Adults often reach up to 60 centimeters in length (females are slightly inferior). A chameleon's color changes during periods of stress and pregnancy. Containment conditions: contain this type It is necessary to do it alone, giving the lizard a large terrarium with ventilation. Chameleon feeding small insects.
Three-horned chameleon- not yet so common, but a very bright and noticeable representative of lizards. Appearance: the chameleon justifies its name with its extraordinary appearance; the three-horned chameleon has a bright green color. There are three horns on the head, one straight and two curved. Curved tail used as a hook. Conditions of keeping: the individual should be kept in the same conditions as other chameleons: large, vertical terrarium, with good ventilation, while being single.

Agamidae

Monitor lizards

Black and white tegu – typical representative lizards South America. Appearance: this individual often reaches sizes of up to one and a half meters. This representative of the monitor lizard is a predator, emerging from its hole during the day, eating small and large animals that it can catch up with. Conditions of keeping: to keep this one in captivity you will need a truly gigantic terrarium, or better yet a whole pen. The lizard's diet must include chicks, locusts, and rats. Just look at the photo of this “dinosaur” to understand that everything is serious.

Geckos

The fat-tailed gecko is a very small and even cute representative of the lizard family. In nature, it leads a rather secretive lifestyle. Lives throughout the territory West Africa. Appearance: The size of the gecko rarely exceeds 30 centimeters. Due to its “compactness”, the fat-tailed gecko easily fits even into a small terrarium. Conditions of detention: hundreds of liters are enough to accommodate three females and one male. You cannot put two males in one terrarium. This will lead to constant struggle for territory. These lizards feed on small insects and artificial, vitamin-rich reptile food.
Leopard lizard- another representative of geckos. Larger, but at the same time more popular among exotic lovers. Appearance: This lizard is not easily called the namesake of the leopard. It is the similar spotted color that causes similar associations and sets it apart from other geckos. The spotted gecko reaches an average of 30 centimeters in length. The gecko is captivating at first sight, take a look at the photo below to see for yourself. Housing conditions: as in the case of the fat-tailed gecko, you can get by with a small terrarium of 60-90 liters and calmly plant a couple of geckos there. These lizards do not need soil.

Iguanas

Skinks

Blue tongue skink– a very patient and homely lizard, which, despite its “angry” appearance, can become best choice for beginners. Appearance: large animal light color with large scales. The distinctive feature, based on the name, was the language blue. Conditions of detention: this species lives in Australia and is prohibited from being exported from there. At the same time, the lizard is available for sale with us, and it feels great at home. A terrarium 100 centimeters long and 50 centimeters wide is perfect.

Domestic lizards

Lizards are the largest group of reptiles. In everyday life, lizards are often referred to as all reptiles with legs (excluding turtles and crocodiles), but in the scientific community this title is borne mainly by representatives of the family of true lizards and several other species. These will be discussed in this article, and other related species - skinks, geckos, agamas, iguanas, monitor lizards - will be considered separately.

Pearl or Ornamented Lizard (Lacerta lepida).

True lizards are mostly small to medium sized. The largest representative of the family - the pearl lizard - reaches a length of 80 cm, other species usually do not exceed 20-40 cm, one of the smallest are numerous foot-and-mouth lizards, their length including the tail is no more than 10 cm. Distinctive feature real lizards have movable eyelids (the main difference from snakes, whose eyelids are fused), oblong, thin body With long tail and medium sized paws. In desert species, the paws have long fingers with lateral teeth, which allows the lizard not to fall into quicksand. One more interesting feature lizards have the ability to autotomy (self-mutilation). Of course, lizards do not mutilate themselves without reason, but in case of danger, they can, by contracting their muscles, break the spine in the tail part and throw off the tail. The tail continues to wriggle and distract the enemy's attention; over time, the lizard grows a new tail.

The tail always breaks in the same “programmed” place; if the growth point is disturbed, then the lizard can grow two tails.

The coloring of real lizards is always a combination of several colors, usually green, brown and gray. Desert species have a yellowish color, exactly imitating the texture of sand. At the same time, many species have bright areas of the body (throat, abdomen, spots on the sides) colored blue, azure, yellow, and red. Lizards have weakly expressed sexual dimorphism: males are slightly larger than females and brighter in color (although the pattern is the same in both sexes), the pattern of young individuals is different from adults. Lizards are voiceless and do not make any sounds with the exception of the Stechlin and Simon lizards Canary Islands, these species squeak in moments of danger.

Pushing, or common lizard(Lacerta agilis).

True lizards live only in the Old World - Europe, Asia and Africa. In southern Asia, islands Indian Ocean and Madagascar does not have them. Several species were introduced to North America, where they successfully spread to the western United States. The habitats of lizards are varied; they can be seen in meadows, steppes, deserts and semi-deserts, forests, gardens, bush thickets, mountains, on river banks and cliffs. Lizards stay on the ground or climb low bushes, grass stems and tree trunks. All species are capable of moving along vertical surfaces, clinging to cracks in the bark and uneven ground, but mountain species have achieved particular perfection in this. Rock lizards and species close to them can run along bare sheer rocks and jump from a height of 3-4 m.

The long tail not only does not interfere with the lizard, but also helps it maneuver between the stems of grass.

These animals are diurnal and only representatives of the family of nocturnal lizards (close to real ones) are active mainly at night. In any case, lizards prefer to go hunting in the morning and at sunset; at noon they are less active. Lizards live alone and adhere to permanent habitats. They live in burrows, cracks in the soil, bark, and crevices between stones. These are very active and cautious animals; they usually sit and look around the surroundings; when they see suspicious movement, they freeze for a while, and when an enemy approaches, they take to their heels. They run very quickly, alternately rearranging all their limbs; some desert species can run for several meters on their hind legs or bury themselves in the sand. In addition, in deserts, lizards are often forced to raise their legs one at a time to avoid burns from the hot sand.

The reticulated foot-and-mouth disease (Eremias grammica) lives in deserts; its long toes help it move along the sand.

Lizards feed almost exclusively on invertebrates; only the largest individuals can catch a small rodent, snake, or eat bird nesting. Typically, lizards hunt insects and spiders, and they catch quite mobile species (butterflies, locusts, grasshoppers, etc.), less often they eat snails, slugs, and worms. These animals do not have special devices for hunting (sticky tongue, poison). The lizards first sneak up on the prey, and then with a sharp throw they overtake and catch it with their mouths; when eating, they first chew and crush the hard wings of insects, tear off inedible parts, and then swallow. Some species from time to time eat the fruits of plants (prickly pear, cherries, sweet cherries, grapes, viburnum).

Stehlini's lizard (Gallotia stehlini) eats prickly pear fruits.

Small species reproduce several times per season, large ones - once a year. The breeding season occurs in spring-early summer and depends on the habitat (the further north the habitat, the later mating season). The males look out for the female and chase her at a run. If two males meet each other, they approach their opponent sideways, trying to appear larger. The smaller one gives up and gives in; if the rivals are equal in size, then they begin to bite, and their fights are fierce and often accompanied by bloodshed. The winner most often grabs the female by the abdomen near the hind legs and mates with her. The mating ritual of the three-lined lizard is rather strange: the male grabs the female by the back of her body, lifts her above the ground so that she rests on the ground only with her front paws, and begins to run with the female in his mouth. In rock lizards and other mountain species, the sex ratio is sharply disturbed, the proportion of males in the population is 0-5%, so females lay eggs without fertilization. This method of reproduction is called parthenogenesis.

The female lays from 2-4 (in small species) to 18 (in large species) eggs. The eggs are buried in the soil forest floor, hiding in holes, under stones. Incubation time depends on temperature environment and type, it lasts from 3 weeks to 1.5 months. Parents do not care about clutches and offspring. Young lizards immediately after hatching begin an independent life and are able to obtain food themselves. Viviparous lizards give birth to live young after 3 months of pregnancy; in the north of the range, embryos can occasionally even overwinter in the mother’s body, and in the extreme south of the range the same species lays eggs. The lifespan of lizards usually does not exceed 3-5 years.

Viviparous lizard (Lacerta vivipara, or Zootoca vivipara).

In nature there are many enemies of these animals. They are hunted by snakes, storks, cranes, kingfishers, crows, shrikes, small falcons, and hoopoes. For protection, lizards use different ways: fast running with sharp unexpected turns, burying in sand or forest floor, freezing (a hidden lizard cannot be thrown from a bush), simple camouflage (a lizard, for example, can hide with reverse side tree trunk, furtively watching the pursuer). When a lizard is caught, it throws off its tail or bites; holding this nimble animal in your hands is not so easy. But numerous mountain species of lizards (rock, Armenian, etc.) when caught, sometimes grab themselves by the hind leg and curl up in a ring. This pose is not accidental, because the main enemy of these species is snakes, which always swallow prey from the head, but a snake cannot swallow such a living ring.

Lizards do not harm people, but they do provide benefits. These animals destroy harmful insects and are themselves an integral link in the food chain. A number of species with a very narrow range are listed in the Red Book; their numbers are negatively affected by plowing and fires.

Black and yellow giant lizard (lat. Tiliqua nigrolutea) belongs to the skink family, Rodutiliqua. This is a very impressive creature, which, moreover, has a peaceful character and tolerates existence well in captivity. That is why representatives of the species often become inhabitants of terrariums among exotic lovers.

IN wildlife The black and yellow giant lizard lives in the south-eastern part of Australia, northern Tasmania and some islands of the Bass Strait. It can be found in almost any area: from mountains to plains with sparse vegetation.

Leads a daily lifestyle. At night, it prefers to hide in shelters, like other representatives of the genus. It feeds mainly on leaves, fruits and flowers. She will not refuse small invertebrates, but most of all she likes snails and slugs. It may also attack small rodents or feast on carrion.

This is a rather large lizard that grows up to 35-50 cm in length. It has a flattened body, a large head and small limbs. Upper part body is dark. Its color varies from black to chocolate brown. Small spots of cream, orange or yellow, which merge into short transverse stripes.

Black and yellow giant lizards are viviparous. Their pregnancy lasts about four months and ends with the birth of 8 cubs.

In the wild, they have to face many dangers: dingoes like to snack on gigantic lizards, birds of prey, snakes, wild cats and dogs. In captivity, the life expectancy of tiliquas reaches 10-15 years.

Contents of the article

LIZARDS(Lacertilia, Sauria), suborder of reptiles. As a rule, small animals with well-developed limbs, the closest relatives of snakes. Together they form a separate evolutionary lineage of reptiles. Main hallmark its representatives are the paired copulatory organs of the male (hemipenises), located on both sides of the anus at the base of the tail. These are tubular formations that can turn out or retract inward like the fingers of a glove. The inverted hemipenises serve for internal fertilization of the female during mating.

Lizards and snakes form the order of squamates - Squamata (from the Latin squama - scales, as a sign that the body of these reptiles is covered with small scales). One of the recurring trends in the evolution of its representatives was the reduction or loss of limbs. Snakes, one of the lineages of squamates with reduced limbs, make up the suborder Serpentes. The suborder of lizards comprises several highly divergent evolutionary lineages. For simplicity, we can say that “lizards” are all scaly animals, except snakes.

Most lizards have two pairs of limbs, visible openings of the external auditory canal, and a movable eyelid; but some of them lack these signs (like all snakes). Therefore, it is safer to focus on the features internal structure. For example, all lizards, even legless ones, retain at least rudiments of the sternum and shoulder girdle (the skeletal support of the forelimbs); both are completely absent in snakes.

Distribution and some species.

Lizards are widespread throughout the world. Absent from Antarctica, they are found from the southern tip of other continents to southern Canada in North America and to the Arctic Circle in that part of Europe where the climate is moderated by warm ocean currents. Lizards are found from elevations below sea level, such as Death Valley in California, to 5500 m above sea level in the Himalayas.

Known approx. 3800 of them modern species. The smallest of them is the round-toed gecko ( Sphaerodactylus elegans) from the West Indies, only 33 mm long and weighing about 1 g, and the largest is the Komodo dragon ( Varanus komodoensis) from Indonesia, which can reach 3 m in length and weigh 135 kg. Despite the widespread belief that many lizards are poisonous, there are only two such species - the vest ( Heloderma suspectum) from the southwestern United States and the related escorpion ( H. horridum) from Mexico.

Paleontological history.

The oldest fossil remains of lizards date back to the Late Jurassic (ca. 160 million years ago). Some of their extinct species were enormous in size. It is assumed that Megalania, which lived in Australia in the Pleistocene (approx. 1 million years ago), reached a length of approx. 6 m; and the largest of the mosasaurs (a fossil family of long, slender fish-like aquatic lizards related to monitor lizards) is 11.5 m. Mosasaurs inhabited coastal sea waters various parts planets approx. 85 million years ago. The closest modern relative of lizards and snakes is quite large hatteria, or tuatara ( Sphenodon punctatus ), from New Zealand.

Appearance.

The background color of the back and sides of most lizards is green, brown, gray or black, often with a pattern in the form of longitudinal and transverse stripes or spots. Many species are able to change color or its brightness due to the dispersion and aggregation of pigment in special skin cells called melanophores.

The scales can be both small and large; they can be located close to each other (like tiles) or overlapping (like tiles). Sometimes they are transformed into spines or ridges. Some lizards, such as skinks, have bony plates called osteoderms inside their horny scales, which give the integument additional strength. All lizards molt periodically, shedding their outer layer of skin.

The limbs of lizards are designed differently, depending on the lifestyle of the species and the surface of the substrate on which it usually moves. In many climbing forms, such as anoles, geckos and some skinks, the lower surface of the fingers is expanded into a pad covered with setae - branched hair-like outgrowths of the outer layer of the skin. These bristles catch on the slightest irregularities in the substrate, which allows the animal to move along a vertical surface and even upside down.

Both the upper and lower jaws of lizards are equipped with teeth, and in some they are also located on the palatine bones (the roof of the oral cavity). The teeth are held on the jaws in two ways: acrodontally, almost completely fused with the bone, usually along its edge and not replaced, or pleurodontally - loosely attached to the inside of the bone and regularly replaced. Agamas, amphisbaenas and chameleons are the only modern lizards with acrodont teeth.

Sense organs.

The eyes of lizards are developed differently, depending on the species - from large and well-seeing in diurnal forms to small, degenerate and covered with scales in some burrowing taxa. Most have a movable scaly eyelid (lower eyelid only). Some medium-sized lizards have a transparent “window” on it. In a number of small species it occupies most or the entire area of the eyelid, attached to the upper edge of the eye, so that it is constantly closed, but sees as if through glass. Such “glasses” are characteristic of most geckos, many skinks and some other lizards, whose gaze as a result is unblinking, like that of snakes. Lizards with a movable eyelid have a thin nictitating membrane, or third eyelid, underneath it. This is a transparent film that can move from side to side.

Many lizards have retained the parietal “third eye” characteristic of their ancestors, which is not capable of perceiving shape, but distinguishes between light and darkness. It is believed that he is sensitive to ultraviolet radiation and helps regulate sun exposure as well as other behaviors.

Most lizards have a noticeable opening in the shallow external auditory canal, which ends in the eardrum. These reptiles perceive sound waves with a frequency of 400 to 1500 Hz. Some groups of lizards have lost their auditory opening: it is either covered with scales or has disappeared as a result of narrowing of the auditory canal and eardrum. In general, these “earless” forms can perceive sounds, but, as a rule, worse than the “eared” ones.

Yakobsonov (vomeronasal) organ- a chemoreceptor structure located in the anterior part of the palate. It consists of a pair of chambers that open into the oral cavity with two small holes. With its help, lizards can determine chemical composition substances in the mouth and, more importantly, in the air and landing on their protruding tongue. Its tip is brought to the Jacobson's organ, the animal “tastes” the air (for example, to the proximity of prey or danger) and reacts accordingly.

Reproduction.

Initially, lizards belong to oviparous animals, i.e. lay shell-covered eggs that develop for several weeks outside the mother's body before hatching. However, many groups of lizards have developed ovoviviparity. Their eggs are not covered with a shell, they remain in the female’s oviducts until embryonic development is completed, and the already “hatched” cubs are born. Only the widespread South American skinks of the genus can be considered truly viviparous. Mabuya. Their tiny, yolkless eggs develop in the oviducts, likely receiving nutrition from the mother through the placenta. The placenta in lizards is a special temporary formation on the wall of the oviduct, in which the capillaries of the mother and the embryo come close enough to each other so that the latter receives oxygen and nutrients from her blood.

The number of eggs or young in a brood varies from one (in large iguanas) up to 40–50. In several groups, for example, in most geckos, it is constant and equal to two, and in skinks and a number of American tropical geckos, there is always only one cub in the brood.

Age of puberty and life expectancy.

Puberty in lizards generally correlates with body size; in small species it lasts less than a year, in large species it lasts several years. In some small forms, most adults die after laying eggs. Many large lizards live up to 10 years or more, and one copperhead, or brittle spindle ( Anguis fragilis), reached 54 years of age in captivity.

Enemies and methods of defense.

Lizards are attacked by almost all animals that can grab and defeat them. These are snakes, birds of prey, mammals and humans. Methods to protect yourself from predators include morphological adaptations and special behavioral techniques. If you get too close to some lizards, they will take on a threatening pose. For example, the Australian frilled lizard ( Chlamydosaurus kingii ) suddenly opens its mouth and raises a wide bright collar formed by a fold of skin on the neck. Obviously, the effect of surprise plays a role in scaring off enemies.

If many lizards are grabbed by the tail, they throw it away, leaving the enemy with a wriggling piece of debris that distracts his attention. This process, known as autotomy, is facilitated by the presence of a thin non-ossifying zone in the middle of all caudal vertebrae except those closest to the trunk. The tail is then regenerated.

Lizards (lat. Lacertilia, formerly Sauria)- a suborder of the squamate order of the class of reptiles.

The suborder of lizards is not a biologically clearly defined category, but includes all those species that do not belong to the other two suborders of squamates - snakes and moths. Snakes are probably descendants of varanoid lizards and, according to biological principles, can also be considered lizards, but are conditionally classified as a separate suborder. In total there are over 4,300 species of lizards.

Unlike snakes, most lizards (with the exception of some legless forms) have more or less developed limbs. Although legless lizards are similar in appearance to snakes, they retain their sternum, and most retain limb girdles; unlike snakes, the left and right halves of the jaw apparatus are motionlessly fused. A characteristic feature of the suborder is also incomplete ossification of the anterior part of the braincase and no more than two sacral vertebrae.

Lizards have dry, scaly skin, four clawed limbs and a long tail.

Lizards move mainly on land, but some can swim and even almost fly.

Lizards have very well developed vision; many see the world in color.

As for size, there are chameleons or geckos whose length does not exceed a few centimeters, and there are also giants, for example, the length of a monitor lizard can approach three or more meters.

U legless lizards eyes, as a rule, are equipped with movable separate eyelids, and in snakes the eyelids are fused, forming transparent “lenses” in front of the eyes. They also differ in a number of other features, such as the structure and structure of the scales.

Many species of lizards are capable of throwing off part of their tail (autotomy). After some time, the tail is restored, but in a shortened form. During autotomy, special muscles compress the blood vessels in the tail, and almost no bleeding occurs.

Most lizards are predators. Small and average size the species feed mainly on various invertebrates: insects, arachnids, mollusks, worms. Large predatory lizards (monitor lizards, tegus) attack small vertebrates: other lizards, frogs, snakes, small mammals and birds, and also eat the eggs of birds and reptiles. The largest modern lizard is komodo dragon(Varanus komodoensis) - attacks large animals such as deer, wild pigs and Asian buffalo. Some carnivorous species of lizards are stenophages, that is, they specialize in eating a specific type of food. For example, the moloch (Moloch horridus) feeds only on ants, and the pink-tongued skink (Hemisphaeriodon gerrardii) in nature eats exclusively terrestrial mollusks.

Some large iguanas, agamidae and skink lizards are completely or almost completely herbivorous. These species eat fruits, leaves, young shoots and flowers of plants.

Among lizards there are many omnivorous species that use both animal and plant foods (for example, blue tongue skinks, many agamas). Madagascar day geckos, in addition to insects, readily eat nectar and pollen. As for reproduction, most lizards lay eggs, but there are also viviparous ones. Maternal instinct is alien to insidious reptiles. Almost all types of lizards, after the birth of their offspring, stop worrying about them.