Family Agamidae agamid lizards, Old World arboreal lizards

Family Chamaeleonidae chameleons

Family Corytophanidae helmet lizards

Family Crotaphytidae collared lizards, leopard lizards

Family Hoplocercidae dwarf and spiny-tail iguanas

Family Iguanidae American arboreal lizards, chuckwallas, iguanas, iguanids

Family Opluridae Malagasy iguanas

Family Phrynosomatidae North American spiny lizards

Family Polychrotidae anoles and kin

Family Tropiduridae tropidurid lizards

Gekkota
Active hunters, the Gekkota include three families comprising the distinctive cosmopolitan geckos
and the legless, flap-footed lizards of Australia and New Guinea. Like snakes, the flap-footed lizards
and most geckos lack eyelids. Unlike snakes, they use their tongues to clean their often highly
developed eyes. While gecko feet have unique surfaces that allow them to cling to glass and run on
ceilings,[13] the flap-foot has lost its limbs. The three families of this suborder are:

Family Eublepharinae 'eyelid' geckos

Family Gekkonidae geckos

Family Pygopodidae flap-footed lizards

Most lizard species are harmless to humans. Only the largest lizard species, the Komodo
dragon, which reaches 3.3 m (11 ft) in length and weighs up to 166 kg (365 lb), has been
known to stalk, attack, and, on occasion, kill humans. An eight-year-old Indonesian boy died
from blood loss after an attack in 2007.[14] The venoms of the Gila monster and beaded
lizard are not usually deadly, but they can inflict extremely painful bites due to powerful jaws.

Numerous species of lizard are kept as pets, including bearded dragons, iguanas, anoles,
andgeckos (such as the popular leopard gecko). Some lizards have an affinity for humans,

but many are suspicious or skittish around them. Lizards that bite humans are very rare.
Lizards are predominantly insectivorous, but some eat fruit, or vegetables. Live crickets and
worms are the most typical foods for pet lizards, though the crested gecko (not a friendly
lizard to humans) can feed entirely on fruit.

Lizard symbolism plays important, though rarely predominant, roles in

some cultures (e.g., Tarrotarro in Australian Aboriginal mythology). The Mochepeople of
ancient Peru worshipped animals and often depicted lizards in their art. [15] According to a
popular legend in Maharashtra, a common Indian monitor, with ropes attached, was used to
scale the walls of the Sinhagad fort in the Battle of Sinhagad.[16]

Green iguanas are eaten in Central America, where they are referred to sometimes as
"chicken of the tree" after their habit of resting in trees and their supposed chicken-like taste,
[17][18]

and spiny-tailed lizards are eaten in Africa. In North Africa, Uromastyx species are

considered dhaab or 'fish of the desert' and eaten by nomadic tribes.[19]