Say Hello To the Yellow Spotted Lizard Quiz

Answer: True

Yellow spotted lizards are part of the night lizard family. They usually range from two to three inches in size but can grow up to five inches. They have a dark black or brown color and are decorated with lines of yellow spots running down their sides.

Their spots usually start from the tip of their nose and fade out to thin bands on their tail. The bottom of the stomach is usually yellow. Yellow spotted lizards have a snake-like head and scales covering their body. They have the unusual features of a white tongue and black teeth.

Answer: tropical or subtropical rain-forests of Central America

Yellow spotted lizards make their home in tropical regions of Mexico and Central America. The leafy hot humid regions give them shade and the elevated landscapes give them plenty of rocky crevices to hide from predators. They usually live in the same spot their entire lives. Yellow spotted lizards are becoming a threatened species due to the increasing loss of rain-forests.

Answer: in rotten logs, rotten leaves, and rocky crevices

Yellow spotted lizards hide in rotten logs or under decaying leaves on the forest floor. These lizards also use their small size to squeeze beneath rocks or inside crevices. Their dark color allows them to blend in with brownish logs, leaves, and rocks. They are very hard to spot in the wild.

Answer: small flying bugs and ground insects

The yellow-spotted lizard is primarily an insectivore. Ants, centipedes, flies, scorpions and spiders make up most of the lizards' diet. Since it rarely leaves its home or habitat, the yellow-spotted lizard feeds on the insects that are close to its hiding spot. They like to leap out of holes or tight spaces that give them shade, surprising their target.

Answer: She can fertilize her eggs without the male.

The yellow spotted lizards can reproduce through parthenogenesis, where eggs can develop without being fertilized. In populations where males exist, the lizards fertilize their eggs normally. In cases where there are no males, females can reproduce without the males.

Answer: They give birth to live young

Yellow-spotted lizards take several years to sexually mature. Females usually have between five or eight babies in the months of June or July. Instead of laying their eggs, the females give live birth to their babies. They don't produce a litter of babies every year, which gives their bodies time to heal and rest.

Answer: They have sharp teeth to bite with

Yellow spotted lizards are often assumed to be venomous because of their bright colored spots. Their teeth and tongues have no venom, contrary to many media stories, but they can bite hard. The most common defense of a yellow spotted lizard is to hide first and then surprise its attacker by jumping out and running away. It will rarely attack humans unless it is held under stress.

Answer: at dusk

Yellow spotted lizards are vespertine, which means they start coming out at dusk or sunset. They are also nocturnal, which means they remain active for most of the deep night hours. The night hours help them hide well for hunting with their coloring and habitats.

Answer: There is little known about how to keep them in captivity

Little is known about how to keep the yellow spotted lizards in captivity with their health, well being, and upkeep. Yellow spotted lizards are not venomous but they are know to bite if they are under stress. Many of the captive ones sold for pets have been caught in the wild and are not treated for diseases.

They are often parasite ridden. They are used to hunting food in their natural habitat and pet food available is usually limited to what domesticated lizards eat, such as wax worms and crickets. Keeping them as a pet is only recommended for pet keepers that have had experience with one or two other exotic lizard species.

Answer: True

The average lifespan of a yellow spotted lizard is ten to fifteen years. In the wild some of them can live up to twenty years in their natural rain-forest habitat. Like many other animals, captivity cuts their lifespan down significantly. Due to different diets and stress, yellow spotted lizards have been known to die within one to three years as pets.