I had no idea there are more than 6000 species of lizards, that's amazing!
Really? I am surprised there are that many. What is the biggest?
The Komodo dragon is the biggest, in fact, they can grow to be larger than a car.
I would be very frightened to encounter a Komodo dragon as big as my car. What do they eat?
They are mainly carnivores and can eat mammals as big as a water buffalo! I wouldn't want to meet one for dinner that's for sure.
That is amazing! So were the dinosaurs distant cousins of today's lizards?
Some say that is true it depends on which scientific theories you believe in.
I see. Considering some dinosaurs were herbivores that could mean there was no connection.
available earlier. According to the new classification, the original dinosaurs, arising 200 million years ago, were small, two-footed omnivorous animals with large grasping hands. Descendants (for the non-avian dinosaurs) lasted until 66 million years ago.
Origins amongst archosaurs.
The process leading up to the Dinosauromorpha and the first true dinosaurs can be followed through fossils of the early Archosaurs such as the Proterosuchidae, "Erythrosuchidae" and "Euparkeria" which have fossils dating back to 250 Ma, through mid-
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 6,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic as it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia; some lizards are more closely related to these two excluded groups than they are to other lizards. Lizards range in size from chameleons and geckos a few centimeters long to the 3 meter long Komodo dragon.
Most lizards are quadrupedal, running with a strong side-to-side motion. Others are