Leapin' Lizards! Trivia Quiz

Answer: They can "fly".

Draco lizards, also known as "flying dragons", actually glide by means of a wing-like membrane that extends from their elongated ribs. Native to Southeast Asia, the small lizards (at up to eight inches/twenty centimeters in length) can manage glides of up to thirty feet/nine meters (although one source I found credited them with "flights" of up to nearly 200 feet/60 meters).

The lizards are almost exclusively arboreal, although the females will descend to the ground to lay eggs. Incidentally, there are other species of gliding lizards, including several types of geckos.

Answer: North America

Usually Australia is the shoo-in answer for venomous creatures, but in the case of these lizards, they're found in North America. The Gila monster and the Mexican beaded lizard are the two species in the genus Heloderma, and they're found in the southwestern United States down to northern Central America.

Although these lizards were long believed to be the only venomous lizards on the planet, researchers now believe that some other lizard species, including monitors and iguanas, also produce venom.

Answer: Legs

Glass lizards are a type of legless lizard. They differ from snakes in that they have elongated heads, movable eyelids and external ears. They are called "glass lizards" because they are able to shatter their tail into several pieces; they do this as a defense mechanism to distract predators.

Answer: They can run on two legs.

Researchers are split on whether running on two legs (bipedalism) is faster than running on four legs. In one study, lizards were put on a treadmill, and no significant difference in speed was detected between bipedal and quadrupedal lizards. Other researchers maintain that bipedal lizards have developed stronger hind legs with the result being that the weaker fore legs are a hindrance to the running lizards.

Incidentally, basilisks are also able to run across water, giving them the nickname "Jesus Christ lizards".

Answer: It can collect water on its back and channel it to its mouth.

Thorny devils are distant relatives of the horned lizards of North America, but thorny devils have their own genus, Moloch. Both thorny devils and horned lizards have been observed using this technique to gather water. When placed in water, thorny devils have been able to draw the water up, defying gravity, and move the water to their mouths.

In the desert, the lizards will usually collect morning dew.

Answer: They give birth to live young as opposed to laying eggs.

The lizards at both elevations are the same species but as they migrate to higher elevations, they cease laying eggs and instead give birth to live young. The reason is that live young have a greater chance of survival in an environment where warm weather only occurs for a short period of time.

Another variety of skink and the European viviparous lizard have also exhibited the same trait.

Answer: Their tails

Several species of lizards, such as tree lizards and house geckos, have "tail autotomy" and are able to detach their tails from their bodies. Usually these lizards have brightly marked tails, and when they are dropped, the tails will twitch back and forth for a minute or so, drawing the attention of the predator while the lizard scampers away.

The lizard will then regenerate a new tail over a period of weeks, although the replacement tail is usually stubbier and lacking the coloration of the original tail.

Answer: They live in families.

Night lizards have been found to live in nuclear families - mom, dad and the kids. Early researchers of the species had noted that the lizards were found in groups under Joshua tree logs, but it wasn't until the species was extensively studied that it was realized that the group members were related.

The female night lizards give birth to live young, and the offspring stay with their parents for up to three years of their eight-to-ten year lifespan.

Answer: They have vocal cords.

Although several lizards can make sounds, only geckos are believed to have vocal chords. In particular, the tokay and leopard geckos are considered the noisiest of the bunch. The sounds made by other lizards, such as iguanas and chameleons, are the result of vibrations according to researchers.

The Geico gecko is animated, so he could talk regardless of whether his real-life counterparts had the ability (and real-life geckos probably don't speak with English accents).

Answer: They're all females.

Oddly enough, the entire population of these lizards (and others, such as some whiptail species) is female. Their offspring are actually clones of the mother lizard. The Leiolepis ngovantrii is a fairly recent addition to the lizard kingdom, at least to scientists who discovered the lizards in 2010 in a Vietnamese restaurant.

The lizards, however, have been a delicacy in Vietnam for many years.