If you like your lizards a little on the weird side you will love these ten that are some of the worlds rarest and some of them are deeply endangered. But with many of them knowing they exist is hard the battle and the other half is conservation that many of them are going through. Just don’t expect to come across many of these in the wild any time soon…
The Guatemalan Beaded Lizard (Heloderma horridum charlesbogerti)
The Guatemalan Beaded Lizard (Heloderma horridum charlesbogerti)
While numbers of these lizards in the wild are unobtainable they are only 20 of them in captivity! This highly venomous lizard is in the same family as the Gila monster, but is not to be confused with the Mexican beaded lizard whos numbers are not so much a concern.
The Brown Lightbulb Lizard (Riama meleagris)
The Brown Lightbulb Lizard (Riama meleagris)
If you like a lot of colour on your lizard, what about showing some love for this rare rainbow-sheened lizard found just a few years ago in the Tungurahua province of Ecuador. The good news is they are in a conservation program and are being currently relocated to a more protected area.
Earless Monitor Lizard (Lanthanotus borneensis)
Earless Monitor Lizard (Lanthanotus borneensis)
The lack of ears is not the only distinctive feature of this lizard. Its snakelike skin is also worthy of note as well as just how reclusive this a lizard is which in turn also makes counting numbers a difficult task indeed. But they are thought to be very low due to changes in their environments (by humans)
Blue Anole (Anolis gorgonae)
Blue Anole (Anolis gorgonae)
You might think counting a bright blue lizard that lives in trees is pretty easy, but scientists have been unable to give even an estimate of its population. Why? Because it lives high in the trees and its colour often enables it to blend into to blue of the sky, so when you are looking up it is hard to count them. But numbers are believed to be very low.
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Pinocchio Lizard (Anolis proboscis)
Pinocchio Lizard (Anolis proboscis)
While its long nose doesn’t grow when it lying about something it is pretty long, just like Pinocchios when he has been lying! This lizard was thought to be extinct, but a few were found in a small area of Ecuador and it is currently under protection.
UK Sand Lizard (Lacerta agilis)
UK Sand Lizard (Lacerta agilis)
We have thousands of species of lizard here in the UK, but these are some of the rarest. But these little guys are slowly being reintroduced to the sands of UK beaches in the hope that they start breeding naturally.
Mexican Alligator Lizard (Abronia graminea)
Mexican Alligator Lizard (Abronia graminea)
While they are normally green there are a few of the same species that are blue in colour and being easy to spot makes them prime for poachers. While numbers in captivity are in the hundreds in the wild there are far fewer.
Chinese Cave Gecko (Goniurosaurus hainanensis)
Chinese Cave Gecko (Goniurosaurus hainanensis)
Sadly this amazing looking lizard is often being threatened by poachers because their species is only found in one small cave location that is pretty well known. But they are under protection so there is hope their numbers will grow again.
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Lesser Antillean Iguana (Iguana delicatissima)
Lesser Antillean Iguana (Iguana delicatissima)
Sadly this species has to be raised in the lab, but the good news is there is a large program trying to save them by not only breading them in captivity but also releasing them back into the wild where it is hoped their numbers will increase naturally.
The Striped Legless Lizard (Delma impar)
The Striped Legless Lizard (Delma impar)
And we finish off with a lizard that is often mistaken for a snake and lives in Victoria, South Australia. For almost 40 years this lizard was thought to be extinct but was confirmed to be alive in 2018.
Sources Used…
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-27/poachers-anu-canberra-endangered-animals/8565182
- https://zooatlanta.org/animal/guatemalan-beaded-lizard/
- https://www.worldlandtrust.org/news/2018/01/rare-iridescent-lizard-found-in-ecuador-reserve/
- https://www.wired.com/story/wildlife-smugglers-poached-rachel-nuwer-reclusive-lizard/
- https://news.mongabay.com/2007/03/worlds-only-blue-lizard-heads-toward-extinction/
- https://www.popsci.com/article/science/lost-50-years-delightfully-weird-pinocchio-lizard-reappears-ecuador/
- http://arc-trust.blogspot.com/2011/09/rare-sand-lizards-released-back-to-wild.html
- https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/a0zvyw/the_endangered_mexican_alligator_lizard/
- https://www.bahamaslocal.com/newsitem/155830/Scientists_raise_11_of_the_rarest_lizards.html
- https://www.trustfornature.org.au/news/2018/endangered-lizard-found