We're not Snakes, but Close Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dragons

Native to Asia, Australia, Africa and southern Europe, members of the Agamidae family are widely known as dragon lizards, or simply as dragons. Distinctive features include strong legs, tails that cannot be shed, and teeth on the outer rim of their jaw rather than inside their mouth.

The pictured species is the Australian water dragon. Their tails are laterally-compressed (designed for swimming), whilst their claws and legs are powerful and designed for climbing. This semi-aquatic species is often found near water at nearby basking sites such as overhanging trees. Prey to birds, cats, dogs and foxes, they are often found as roadkill due to their love of warm concrete for basking.

Answer: Chameleon

The pictured species is 'Chamaeleo calyptratus', the veiled chameleon or cone-head chameleon. Like most members of the chameleon family, it lives in trees or other large plants. Easy to breed, this omnivore that lives on a mixture of insects and plant matter is the most popular chameleon in the pet trade.

With more than 200 species in the chameleon family, it is hardly surprising that they come in a range of colours. Most, although not all, also have the ability to change colours for camouflage purposes. Visual hunters, chameleons have the ability to look in two different directions at once, but when aiming at prey they turn both eyes forward to give them stereoscopic vision.

Answer: Helmeted Lizards

The common basilisk is also known as the Jesus lizard because of its ability to run on the surface or rivers and streams. An omnivore that feeds on insects, small snakes and birds as well as flowers, it in turn, is a favoured dish of larger reptiles and birds. Capable of remaining still for long periods, it generally tries to avoid predators by hiding under leaves and other foliage, but if forced to flee, its ability to run across water is often a successful defence.

The 'Corytophanidae' family of helmeted lizards (or casquehead lizards) are all distinguished by their well-developed head crests. The main use of the crest is to make themselves appear larger when faced with predators.

Answer: Leopard Lizards

'Gambelia sila' is the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, one of three species of leopard lizard that comprises the 'Gambelia' genus. Relatively large with a long, regenerative tail and powerful rear legs, the blunt-nosed leopard lizard lives mostly on a diet of invertebrates and other lizards (sometimes even its own offspring) augmented by a selection of grasshoppers, beetles, bees, wasps and ants.

Unlike other members of the 'Crotaphytidae' family, leopard lizards have tails that are designed to break off when grasped by predators.

Answer: Collared Lizards

The pictured creature is 'Crotaphytus collaris', the common collared lizard, the official state reptile of Oklahoma. Notable for its large head and powerful jaws, they are almost entirely insectivorous, although they will also eat vertebrates including small mammals and other lizards. You may be surprised to hear that this species is easily tamed, making it popular with the pet trade, although you will need considerable space in which it can run.

'Crotaphytus collaris' shares the 'Crotaphytus' genus with eight other species of collared lizard.

Answer: Iguanas

'Amblyrhynchus cristatus' is the Galápagos marine iguana, one of a handful of marine iguanas that have developed into distinct sub-species on the different islands of the Galapagos archipelago. Unique among today's extant lizards, they forage exclusively on algae in the cold seas around the islands and although relatively slow and clumsy on land, they are accomplished swimmers.

They are all members of the 'Iguanidae' family that also includes chuckwallas and various American arboreal lizards.

Answer: Spiny Lizards

'Sceloporus magister' is the desert spiny lizard. Like many desert-based lizards, they are notable for changing colours: darker during cool periods so that they can absorb more of the sun's heat (when they can often be seen basking on rocks), and lighter during hot periods so that they reflect more radiation, when they often retreat to underground burrows. Omnivorous, the desert spiny lizards feed on a combination of ants, beetles, and caterpillars as well as spiders, centipedes, smaller lizards and some plant material.

The 'Sceloporus' genus includes upwards of 90 species of spiny lizard.

Answer: Horned Lizards

'Phrynosoma solare' is the regal horned lizard, one of 15 species of horned lizard in the 'Phrynosoma' genus. Included amongst them is the Giant horned lizard, although the Texas horned lizard is actually the largest-bodied and the most commonly-seen species. Due to their flattened, round bodies and blunt snouts, these species are sometimes called 'horned frogs' or 'horned toads', but unlike genuine frog or toad species, they are dry-skinned.

Regal horned lizards are found mostly in hot, dry desert environments, where they exist of a diet that includes flies, spiders and other insects but is primarily made up of harvester ants, of which they can consume upwards of 2,500 in a single meal. When using the defence mechanism of shooting blood from their eyes, they instinctively aim for the predator's mouth and eyes. The stream can travel as far as four feet, and can be repeated numerous times.

Answer: Anole Lizards

'Anolis luciae', the Saint Lucia anole, is the only member of the anolis family endemic to St Lucia, although both 'Anolis extremus' from Barbados and 'Anolis wattsi' from Antigua have recently been introduced to the island. So far, the native species has restricted the invaders to areas around Castries, the island's capital city.

The 'Dactyloidae' family contains almost 400 species of anole. Able to change colour to adapt to their surroundings, anoles are sometimes called American chameleons. They also share numerous characteristics with geckos but are not particularly closely related to either of those groups: their closest generic cousins are the Iguana family.

Answer: Geckos

The pictured 'Eublepharis macularius', the leopard gecko, is one of the larger species in the gecko family, with adults growing to between 8-10 inches in length. A popular species with the pet trade, the leopard gecko is unusual amongst geckos in that it has moveable eyelids: most geckos are unable to blink but keep their eyes moist by licking them.

The more than 1,500 species in the 'Gecko' family are to be found throughout the warmer climates of the planet. They are the only lizards who vocalize to communicate. Most of them are known to be able to climb vertical surfaces, thanks to specially-adapted toe-pads, and it is not even a surprise to see them running upside-down across ceilings. Indeed, many gecko species make their home inside human residences and are considered just part of the furniture, and a useful one too as they reduce the mosquito population and that of other bothersome insects.