Reptile Facts

1. Worldwide there are about 3000 living species of lizards.
2. The number of lizards in Australia is constantly being revised. species new to science are being added to the list.
3. Skinks, legless lizards and geckos may grow a new tail if the original is shed. The new tail is supported by a rod of cartilage, not by vertebrae. It may be shorter, and different colour and markings from the original.
4. Although only monitors have deeply forked tongues, the fleshy tongues of other lizards have notches at their tips.
5. Legless lizards and geckos, which have fixed eyelids, use their tonues to clean their eyes and faces.
6. The membrane covering the opening to some lizards earholes is called a tympanum, also the name of the skin that covers a drum. It vibrates to sound.
7. Most Australian lizards eat insects and other small animals. Monitors will eat carrion. Larger skinks and dragons may eat some vegetable material.
8. Australian lizards are harmless to humans. Some will gape and hiss when cornered, but most prefer escape to confrontation.
9. The worlds largest lizard is the Komodo Dragon ( a monitor lizard ) of several indonesion islands.
10. When cold, a lizard will bask in the sunlight, warming its body. Some lizards turn dark coloured to help absorb the heat.
11. Some lizards have permanent black markings on their heads and black spikes down the back. these markings speed heat to the lizards brain and spine.
12. When a lizard is warm enough it moves to shade or other shelter.
13. Dragons sit on basking perches to watch over thier territories. they may sleep on these perches and use the first rays of sunlight to warm them up in the morning.
14. Desert lizards may spend the heat of the day in a burrow or under a rock. They hunt earlty in the morning or late in the afternoon.
15. Lizards do not chew their food but swallow it whole. Some may break it into peices by thrashing it from side to side.
16. Some geckos or legless lizards may squeak, squawk or yap when they are startled or interacting socially. Monitors may hiss when threatened.
17. The Perentie, Australias largest lizard, grows up to 2.5 metres and may weigh up to 15kg.
18. The scientific name of the Perentie is "Varanus giganteus" meaning giant monitor.
19. Most lizards lay eggs which are incubated under the sand or under litter.
20. The females of some species of skinks retain the eggs in thier bodies until hatching.
21. The Northern Spiny Tailed gecko occurs through the northern two-third of Australia, it lives in trees and spinifex and grows to around 15cm in length. The female lays two or three soft shelled eggs per clutch.
22. A geckos broad flat tongue is used to clean its eyes and head. Some species of geckos also use thier tongues to lick nectar from flowers. These species carry pollen between flowers and play a part in re pollination of flower species.
23. At night, when tree d'tellas gecko's hunt, they are pale in colour. during the day, they darken to match as closely as possible the colour and shade of thier background.
24. Some geckos make loud territorial calls.
25. Females of a few species of geckos reproduce without mating with males ( this is known as parthenogenetic reproduction ). There are no males in these species as only the female sex cell is available. Some blind snakes reproduce in this fashion.
26. The tail of a legless lizard may be up to 2.5 times longer than its body.
27. Burtons legless lizard preys on other lizards, It had a long snout and sharp, hinged teeth which stab into the hard, shiny scales of skinks. Its skull is flexible allowing it to swallow large prey.
28. The largest Australian dragon is called the Frilled Lizard.
29. Most Dragons are active by day, but a few desert species may hunt after dusk.
30. Dragons eat any moving creature small enough to be swallowed. Larger dragons may also eat some plant material.
31. The Thorny devil of Australia's deserts eat only small black ants.
32. Desert Dragons may drink water which falls as rain or collects as dew on thier tails and is channeled into thier mouths along grooves between thier scales.
33. The Thorny Devil can change its colour to match its background.
34. Monitors were so-named because they were thought to watch and warn of the presence of crocodiles.
35. Gould's monitor is found in mainland Australia except for the extreme southern coast. it prefers sandy soils, where it digs burrows.
36. The Lace Monitor of Eastern Australia, is a tree climber which may grow up to 2 metres in length.
37. All monitors can swim.
38. The shingleback lizard is a large rough scaled skink that gives birth to live young.