Missouri's 13 species of lizards are interesting, colorful and beneficial. They should not be feared and need our protection.
Missouri is home to 13 kinds of lizards. All lizards native to the Show-Me-State are harmless and non-venomous. Like other reptiles, lizards are ecdothermic or "cold-blooded." They are closely related to snakes, and some even look and "act" just like snakes.
Lizard Information
Most Missouri lizards are long, slender reptiles with scales, a long tail and four legs with claws on their toes. They are different from snakes because they have legs, ear openings and eyelids. However, as with other animals, there are exceptions: The western slender glass lizard, which lives in many Missouri counties, is legless, but has eyelids and ear openings, which snakes lack.
Habitats
Our lizards live in three types of habitats: forests, glades and prairies. Those living in forests use clearings, where they bask in the sun on fallen logs. Glade species bask in the sun on rocks, as well as take shelter under them at night. Prairie lizards have no problem finding places to bask, but they take shelter in animal burrows or under dead grass.
Lizard Skin
Missouri's lizards all have scales and a tough outer skin. Just like snakes, lizards must shed their skin so they can grow. A lizard's outer skin normally comes off in large pieces three or four times during the summer.
What Lizards Eat and What Eats Lizards
Some lizards, such as this broadhead skink female (top left), guard their eggs. A newly hatched ground skink (top right), is so small it will fit on a dime. T his prairie racerunner (bottom) illustrates the differences between lizards and snakes. Lizards have eyelids and ear openings, snakes don't.
All of our lizards eat insects (grasshoppers, ants, crickets and beetles) and spiders. They are valuable as a natural control of destructive species, such as termites. Skinks and fence lizards are known to eat the winged life stage of termites (called "alates") as they emerge from underground in mid-spring. And, the eastern collared lizard is an important predator of other lizards!
Kingsnakes and racers will eat lizards at every opportunity. The roadrunner, a bird that lives on glades in southwest Missouri, is a primary lizard eater. Hawks are important lizard predators. Skunks and badgers dig up lizard eggs. Unfortunately, house cats have proven to be a primary predator of all species of lizards.
Tongues and Teeth
Lizards use their tongue to pick up odors in their environment. They use their small, strong teeth to grab and crush insects. If you capture a large skink or a fence lizard, its bite will feel like nothing more than a pinch. However, collared lizards have a larger head and strong jaws and can cause a superficial bite that may bleed slightly.
The Tail Saves the Day
A lizard can release a part or all of its tail when it is grabbed by a predator. Once the tail is broken off, the lizard quickly runs for shelter and is safe for the moment, leaving a squirming tail to confuse or distract the predator. A lizard's tail has special muscles that constrict at a break point and prevent any blood loss.
After a lizard has lost its tail, a "new" one will eventually grow back, but it will not be as colorful or elegant as the original. It may take three or four months to grow the replacement.
This young ground skink's "forked" tail is a result of its tail not breaking off completely when it was grabbed by a predator. A "new" tail grew beside the injured tail.
Eggs and Young
All Missouri lizards lay eggs. Most female lizards will lay their eggs in a burrow in loose soil, under a flat rock or in rotten logs and leave them.
Skinks (common, shiny-looking lizards) and glass lizards are different. They lay their eggs under a flat rock or inside a rotten log and stay with the eggs until they hatch. They guard their eggs from being eaten by other lizards.
The size of lizard eggs depends on the species. For example, our smallest lizard, the ground skink, lays from two to seven eggs that average under a half-inch long.
Newly hatched lizards are small and are on their own, with no help or protection from the female. Ground skink hatchlings are only 2 inches long -- small enough to curl up on a dime with room to spare.
Lizard Species
Eastern Collared Lizard - Crotaphytus collaris collaris
Male eastern collared lizard. (top left) An adult female eastern collared lizard is not as colorful as the male. However, those developing eggs also have orange spots on their sides. (top right) Newly hatched eastern collared lizard. Its juvenile coloration of contrasting brown and yellow will last for nearly a year. (bottom)
Length: from 8 to 14 inches. Their name, "collared" lizard, refers to a pair of black markings behind their head. Males are more colorful than females and have bright green legs, green specks covering the tail and some orange on the throat. Collared lizards live in the Missouri Ozarks on rocky, dry, open, south-facing hillsides. They eat insects and other kinds of lizards.
Adult collared lizards have the remarkable ability of running on their hind legs when escaping capture. The local name "mountain boomer" refers to the population of collared lizards in the southwest United States. Early settlers to that area saw collared lizards basking on rocks but heard the barklike call of a frog that lives in the same habitat. All lizards native to Missouri are voiceless.
Texas Horned Lizard - Phrynosoma cornutum
Adult Texas horned lizard.
Average total length is 3 inches. This is a rare species in Missouri, once living in several southwestern counties. Their name comes from the large, specialized scales along the back of their head that look like horns.
They are harmless and never try to bite. They defend themselves by "puffing-up" to look larger, or they can eject a small amount of blood from the inner corners of each eye to confuse a predator. Texas horned lizards live in dry, open habitats with sparse vegetation and sandy or loose soil. Here they also find their favorite food: ants.
Northern Fence Lizard - Sceloporus undulatus hyacinthinus
An adult female northern fence lizard has distinct, thin bars across its back. Male fence lizards do not have these markings. (top) Male northern fence lizard showing the blue color on the throat. This color is also found on the belly and is most prominent during the breeding season. (middle and bottom)
Average total length is 5 inches. They are grayish-brown with dark markings across the back and tail. This is a common forest-dwelling species that often lives around country homes and rock gardens. Their choice of split rail fences and stacks of firewood as places to live gave this species its name. They can escape capture by running up a tree.
During the breeding season male fence lizards have an iridescent blue and black belly. Fence lizards live in the southern half and into the northeast corner of Missouri.
Ground Skink - Scincella lateralis
A "pregnant" female ground skink. It laid four eggs a few days after this photo was taken.
Average total length is 4 inches. This is Missouri's smallest species of lizard. They are brown with dark brown or black stripes and speckling along their sides. Ground skinks live on the forest floor and spend much of their time in dead leaves or under flat rocks. They do not climb trees like the other forest-dwelling skinks.
When walking along a forest trail, hikers may hear the sound of small lizards scurrying through dead leaves, but seldom see them. Distribution is statewide except for a few counties in the northwestern corner.
Five-lined Skink - Eumeces fasciatus
Young five-lined skink showing its beautiful cobalt-blue tail. This color changes to a dull-gray after a year (upper left) Adult male five-lined skink showing its orange head - seen only during the breeding season in the spring. (upper right) Males can breed the spring following the year they hatch; females take two years. Males lack back stripes. Adult female five-lined skink (bottom) showing its distinct dark and light stripes and gray tail.
Average total length is 6.5 inches. Often called the "blue-tailed" skink, this is Missouri's most common skink. It has five light lines from the head to the base of the tail. Adult females have brighter stripes than adult males.
During the breeding season in late spring, males have bright orange on their heads. Hatchlings and those under a year of age have brilliant cobalt-blue tails. Five-lined skinks live in forests statewide, except for the northwest corner.
Southern Coal Skink - Eumeces anthracinus pluvialis
Adult female southern coal skink has a dark brown stripe along its side bordered by thin light stripes. (left) Hatchling southern coal skink. Notice the white spots on its face and the black body and tail. It will take the lizard a year to have its adult coloration. (right)
Average length is from 5 to 6 inches. Few people know about this secretive lizard. They are seldom seen because they quickly move under rocks or logs or into leaf litter when approached. They have a wide, coal-black line along their sides. During the breeding season males have an orange head. Coal skinks live on rocky glades in the southern half of the state.
Broadhead Skink - Eumeces laticeps
Adult male broadhead skink lacks the back stripes of the female. The orange color on its head is most prominent during the breeding season.
Average total length is 10.5 inches. This is Missouri's largest forest-dwelling skink. They have a large, wide head and, during the breeding season, the heads of males become slightly swollen and orangish-red. The rest of the body has a few faint stripes. Adult females are more prominently marked with light and dark stripes. Newly hatched young are black and have a bright blue tail.
Broadhead skinks spend much of their time in large trees but will come to the ground to search for insects. Some Missourians call broadhead skinks "scorpions," but they are not poisonous.
Great Plains Skink - Eumeces obsoletus
Adult great plains skink. Notice that many scales have a black tip, giving it a speckled appearance.
Average total length is 11 inches. They are tan or light brown with most of the scales being edged in black. These markings may form irregular lines along the back and sides. Young are shiny-black and have a blue tail. This is a rare species in Missouri, with few recent reports. They require native prairie with numerous rocks. Great Plains skinks live in a few western counties.
Northern Prairie Skink - Eumeces septentrionalis, Southern Prairie Skink - Eumeces obtusirostris
Adult male southern prairie skink. They are very similar in appearance to the northern prairie skink but have less distinct stripes. (left) Adult male northern prairie skink. Its orange head indicates it was captured during spring breeding season. (right)
Average total length is from 5 to 7.5 inches. Both kinds live in Missouri. A small population of northern prairie skinks lives in one county in Missouri's extreme northwestern corner, and a small population of the southern prairie skink was recently found in southwestern Missouri. The two species look similar.
In general, prairie skinks have a longer tail than all other Missouri skinks. They are tan with a faint, light stripe down the back and one or two wide dark stripes along the sides. However, northern prairie skinks have more dark striping along the body and tail than their southern "cousin." Prairie skinks live in native tallgrass prairie, especially along small prairie streams.
Racerunner - Cnemidophorus sexlineatus
Adult male prairie racerunner has more green in its stripes than the six-lined racerunner. (left) Adult six-lined racerunner. This slim, fast-moving lizard has light greenish-gray stripes and a rough, gray tail. (right)
Average total length is 8 inches. They are long and slender with a dark brown or black background and six yellow stripes. Their long tails are tan or gray with slightly spiny scales. Males have a wash of blue or gray on their throat and chest, especially during the breeding season. Two subspecies live in Missouri: the six-lined racerunner in the eastern edge of the state and the prairie racerunner in the rest of the state.
Racerunners are aptly named; they can run across an open area at what seems like lightning speed. Racerunners live in dry open sites with little vegetation. They may hide under flat rocks and are skilled at digging a shallow burrow in loose soil.
Western Slender Glass Lizard - Ophisaurus attenuatus attenuatus
Adult western slender glass lizard. Their stripes may fool some people into thinking that they are seeing a garter snake. But this is a lizard, not a snake.
Average total length is 26 inches. This is Missouri's longest species of lizard. They are often called a "glass snake" because they are long, slender and legless. However, they are true lizards, with eyelids and an ear opening on either side of the head; snakes have neither of these characteristics.
Nearly two-thirds of the lizard is tail, and a large part of it can break off if grabbed by a predator. Glass lizards are tan or brown with black stripes. They are grassland and savanna reptiles and found statewide.
Lizards as Pets
Missouri's lizards are not recommended as pets. They have special needs, including warm temperatures (82 to 95 degrees F) and natural ultra-violet light. Pet lizards need to bask under a warm lamp so they can elevate their body temperature to over 95 degrees F.
Captive lizards also need live, natural food (crickets, grasshoppers, spiders), which is difficult to find in winter. The Conservation Department recommends Missourians observe our lizards in the wild and not take them home as pets.This adult male eastern collared lizard displays breeding colors of bright green and yellow and an orange throat.
Lizard Conservation
Missouri's 13 kinds of lizards require specific natural habitats and protection from unnatural predators. Many people enjoy having lizards around their homes and enjoy watching them. Landowners who are interested in helping lizards can do the following:
- Provide brush piles and rock piles for shelter.
- Encourage nesting by providing open, loose soil such as flower or vegetable gardens near lizard shelters.
- Keep domestic cats from going near where lizards live. Cats are major predators in North America and lizards have no defense against them.
For more information on lizards, as well as other Missouri reptiles or amphibians, consult the Missouri Department of Conservation's book, Amphibians and Reptiles of Missouri, which can be purchased at a regional office, metro office or nature center.
Tom Johnson is the Conservation Department's herpetologist, and author of The Amphibians and Reptiles of Missouri.
LIZARD MYTHS
MYTH: A glass lizard that has lost its tail will come back, find its tail and put itself back together again.
No, this is biologically impossible.
MYTH: The tail of a skink is "poisonous" and can sting you.
No, their tail is not a stinger and is not venomous.
MYTH: "Mountain boomers" (eastern collared lizard) produce a call that sounds like a frog.
No, all of Missouri's lizards are voiceless.
MYTH: If a lizard bites you, it will hold on until it thunders.
No, they have no interest in holding on that long.
