Least ConcernWestern Green Lizard
Lacerta bilineata
7 countries33 parks
Species group · Reptiles
WAnimals has 15 species of lizard, spread across 9 families (Agamidae, Cordylidae, Crotaphytidae, Lacertidae, Liolaemidae, Phrynosomatidae, Shinisauridae, Teiidae, Xantusiidae).
Each one has its own full profile. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.
2 species in this group are in a threatened category according to the IUCN.
Recorded in 67 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:
The males develop a deep blue throat in the breeding season, a visual signal of genetic quality to the females.
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In the breeding season the male's throat turns an intense turquoise blue, and in some populations the female's does too, a feature that has been linked to signalling physical condition.
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In Spain its distribution is limited to a strip across the north of the peninsula, and its populations depend on the hedgerows and margins between fields, a habitat in continual decline.
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It is one of the main predators of turtle and caiman nests in Amazonia: it locates buried clutches by smell and digs up dozens of eggs in a single session.
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Its forked tongue works as a directional chemical detector: it picks up particles from the air and carries them to the Jacobson's organ, comparing the signal from each tip to work out which side the trail is coming from.
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It has established itself as an invasive species in Florida alongside the Argentine black and white tegu, and both are subject to active removal programmes.
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The striking blue spots along its flanks form a pattern of interlocking rosettes, at their most vivid in adult males during the breeding season.
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Ranges calculated from the profiles that record the figure, not from all 15.
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It eats large insects, snails and spiders, and occasionally small vertebrates, eggs and fruit.
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