03 Lizards

Lizards are part of the reptile family, which also includes snakes, turtles, crocodiles, and alligators. Like other reptiles, lizards are cold-blooded. This means that they cannot control their own body temperature — it is controlled by their surroundings. Their skin is also made of scales.

Lizards often need to shed their skin because it does not grow with them. However, similar to humans, they use lungs to breathe. These interesting creatures have a special organ on the roof of their mouths, which they use for smelling. This is called the Jacobsen's organ. Their eyes and ears are on the sides of their heads.

The body shape of lizards is very simple. They have a head, a pair of legs, a long body, another pair of legs, and a tail. Their tails are prehensile, and can help them balance, swim, or grab tree branches. Lizards have a huge range of sizes. They range from about 4 centimetres to 2.5 metres. The komodo dragon is the largest kind of lizard. They live in Indonesia. The smallest lizards live in the British Virgin Islands.

Lizards are found on every continent except Antarctica and are most commonly found in tropical rain forests. Many of them are nocturnal, as they prefer being active in the cooler evening. Lizards that live in cold climates hibernate in the winter as their bodies cannot handle cold temperatures.

Some lizards are carnivores, while others are herbivores. The komodo dragon, for example, eats anything it can find, but prefers bigger prey such as deer and cattle. Herbivores, on the other hand, eat leaves, fruit, flowers, and other plants.

Lizards often fall prey to birds, snakes, bears, raccoons, and coyotes. They try to avoid predators by hiding underground or behind rocks during the day. At night they stay in a nice, warm burrow under the ground.

Word List

surroundings : environment, area

nocturnal : most active at night

You Practice

I. Answer the following questions.

1) What are two interesting things about lizards?

2) Where are the largest and smallest lizards found?

3) Why do lizards often need to shed their skin?

4) What is the basic body shape of a lizard?

5) How do lizards often stay away from predators?

II. Word power—Use these words from the reading in sentences of your own.

1) lungs ________________________________________________

2) prehensile _____________________________________________

3) control _______________________________________________

4) creatures ______________________________________________

5) herbivore _____________________________________________

III. True / False / Not Given—Write T if the sentence is true, F if it is not true, or NG if there is no information about this sentence.

____ 1) The komodo dragon hibernates in the winter.

____ 2) The largest lizards live in the British Virgin Islands.

____ 3) Lizards are commonly found in Antarctica.

____ 4) Lizards often drink water.

____ 5) Lizards like really hot weather.