Talk:Lizard

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[edit] word link

The term "lacertilian" does not link to this page ("lacertilia" does, however). Could some bright wiki-savvy person please arrange that it does? thank you. 165.91.65.191 (talk) 14:57, 11 March 2008 (UTC)RKH

[edit] Evolutionary history?

This article is sadly incomplete without this section —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.214.252.111 (talk) 01:40, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Snakes

I think this article should include the current theory that snakes are derived from lizards, based on DNA data. This is touched upon in the venomous lizards section, but needs to be more explicit. This paper should be cited. Snakes are also relevant in the trend towards reduced leg size and leglessness seen in some lizard groups, as they can then be seen as another group of legless lizards. --Graminophile (talk) 12:52, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Misc. comments

is it true that lizard tails, if grabbed WILL NOT BREAK OFF? I have always heard this - but am not sure if true.... 69.3.16.194 23:11, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Hey I heard and seen the exact opposite of it! I was about to ask if it was true that lizard's tail is detachable and that it can voluntarily detach it to distract a prey! I have seen many tailless lizards and lizards with disproportionate tails. Oh i forgot to say I am talking of wall lizards, lizards you can find on walls. But i think this wall lizard is different. Elncid (talk) 09:26, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Does anyone have a source for the Harry Greene quote: "These papers threaten to radically ... venom evolution"? I googled for it and only found that phrase in instances of the text of this article. Harry Greene is in fact a Cornell herpetologist, but it would be nice to have a source for the quote. -- bethenco 21:02, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

the page http://www.embl-heidelberg.de/~uetz/families/taxa.html#Sau has them catalogued differently. which is right? SpookyMulder 13:54, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

This bit: A brief courtship and mating season occurs between mid-May and early-June. Twenty days after breeding, the female will lay from 2-21 creamy-white leathery eggs in a burrow beneath a large rock. The young hatch 2-3 months later, averaging 3-4 inches in length seems awfully specific to refer to ALL lizards. --DM, 15 Sep 2005

Yeh, mating season sure can't be global! --moxon 10:53, 27 November 2005 (UTC)
Agreed. It seems unlikely those sentences are true of all lizards, so I removed them. -- bethenco 21:17, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

Some external links are broken. Is it better to link to http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Anthony+Herrel%27s+lizard+page instead of the actual link(which is broken.) Yukon guy 19:42, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Number of fingers and toes?

How many fingers and toes do lizards have (excluding, of course, legless lizards)? I've looked at some pictures, and all the ones I could see clearly seemed to have five fingers on each hand. I have not been able to count the toes. Can someone help? And how much variation is there on this point? SpectrumDT 18:40, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

There is a lot of variation on this point, as some lizards are "on their way" towards becoming legless. Although those with fully formed legs and feet have five. --liquidGhoul 00:10, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Which one is this?

?
?

I've just obtained and uploaded a CC image of a lizard. Can somebody identify the exact type this lizard so that a descriptive caption could be used and put on the appropriate page? Thanks. --Oblivious 09:55, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Genus Agama? Is it a juvenile? Do we know where it's from? - Samsara (talk • contribs) 21:53, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
Its from the Maldives and they never grow bigger than this. --Oblivious 21:59, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
Calotes versicolor. - Samsara (talk • contribs) 22:04, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Legless Lizards

Found one in the backyard in our home on the Gold Coast, Australia. Does anyone know how to keep these alive in captivity? Mainly what foods they eat, how to set up habitat, etc.

[edit] Nearly legless

What are those lizards called, who have long fat bodies and stubby legs, and basically slither through sand?

[edit] Extinct Species?

The extinct species Mosasauridae is included in the species categories -- but aren't there many types of dinosaur-era lizards that should also be included (if that one is)?

Most of those "dinosaur era lizards" are not actually true lizards, they're reptiles of other orders not related to lizards. Mosasaurs, on the other hand, actually were true marine lizards.Dinoguy2 01:33, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lizard species

hi! does anyone know how many different speicies of lizards there are?----Fonkety ponk 17:19, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't know the answer but maybe someone can find out. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.164.33.48 (talk) 22:49, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Lizard eggs

Hi! Does anyone know how many eggs lizards lay at once?--Fonkety ponk 18:44, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

The number of eggs a lizard lays at once varies from species to species.

[edit] Lizard Lounge.com

Before this turns into an edit war, just want to point out the Wiki guideline on conflict of interest. I'd just be careful about being too insistant on adding links to content you created yourself... Dinoguy2 02:07, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

Anonymous as well. Unwilling to sign on with an account or discuss the matter, there isn't much reason to think he's got a case. Jim.henderson 06:56, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Growth

Isn't it true that lizards (and other reptiles) will continue growing all their lives, as opposed to mammals who will only grow to a certain extent? I know I read this somewhere (and it wasn't Eragon) Scorpionman 20:47, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

Talk page guidelines say talk pages should be used for improvements to the page, not as a forum. I assume you want this information added to the page? WLU 05:56, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] American Alligator Lizard

We found an american alligator lizard and are not sure anything about it. What temperatures does it like? What does it like to eat? Does it like grass or branches?

Does anyone know anything about these? I can only find alligators on the web.

24.113.219.115 16:21, 19 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Venomous Lizards Section

I'm finding this section confusing, and I was wondering if anyone could clarify it. My first problem is with the sentence, "According to this study, nine toxins previously thought to only occur in snakes have been discovered out of several thousand." Several thousand what? Secondly I don't get the sentence, "The scientists behind these findings are calling for a re-evaluation of the classification system for lizard species to form a venom clade and if successful may result in changes to the beliefs regarding the evolution of lizards, snakes, and venom." The venom clade link is a redirect to Toxicofera, and there is only one Toxicofera. How could the venomous lizards form another one? Is a vemon clade different from Toxicofera, or should it say "join Toxicofera" istead of "form a venom clade"? Felliax08 00:33, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

It seems that the woriter missed the komodo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_Dragon the in 2005 was found to be produce a venom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_Dragon#Venom_and_bacteria

[edit] Lizards at Iguazu Falls

Image:Lizards at Iguazu.jpg
Can anyone identify these two lizards, photographed in Iguazu Falls National Park, Argentina, last Saturday? They were about 2.5 feet (76 cm) long. I'd like to place them in the appropriate article, with a suitable caption. JGHowes talk - 00:23, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Looks to be like it's a member of either the family Varanidae, Anguidae, or Scincidae. --4444hhhh (talk) 20:31, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
True, but none of those are native to Argentina. Looks more like a tegu.--Mike Searson (talk) 20:33, 30 December 2007 (UTC)
Thx, I've added this to Argentine Black and White Tegus JGHowes talk - 20:11, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Lizard push-ups

Lizards communicate not via sound, but instead using body movement ("push-ups").

I thought at first that they were compensating for not having stereo vision by first taking an image at position 1 (e.g., down) and storing it in their brains, then comparing / integrating that with a second image taken at position 2 (e.g., up). Indeed, a total of four images, 2 X 2 eyes. Maybe they are still indeed doing this vision enhancement, along with communicating. Jidanni (talk) 01:46, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] main picture

I think the main picture should be a photo of a archtypal lizard. We already have numerous photos of different lizard species thoughout the article and that show the diversity of lizards. Thats how it's done in the dog, cat, snake, turtle and frog articles. 69.29.254.57 (talk) 21:27, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Oppose The current painting is preferable to any one photo of a particular lizard for the Infobox, as it serves as a better introduction for the reader to the diverse world of squamata JGHowes talk - 23:22, 25 May 2008 (UTC)
Support The current painting has two flaws, IMHO. First, NONE of the lizards depicted are representative, but rather are extreme examples (note that 25% of the species pictured can glide). Secondly, and more importantly, it's small, low contrast, and generally shows up very poorly. I've got good eyes and a nice screen and I still find myself squinting and leaning in to make out the individuals. It would be good elsewhere in the article, but I think the main taxobox image should be a clear, simple, and representative (possibly some generic agamid or anole). Mokele (talk) 23:47, 25 May 2008 (UTC)