Editing Lizard (section)

{{Short description|Informal group of reptiles}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Pp-move}}
{{Pp|small=yes}}
{{Paraphyletic group
| name = Lizards
| fossil_range = [[Middle Jurassic]] – [[Holocene]], {{Fossil range|168|0}}
| image = Lizard Collage.jpg
| image_caption = Clockwise from top left: [[veiled chameleon]] (''Chamaeleo calyptratus''), [[rock monitor]] (''Varanus albigularis''), common blue-tongued skink (''[[Tiliqua scincoides]]''), [[Italian wall lizard]] (''Podarcis sicula''), giant leaf-tailed gecko (''[[Uroplatus fimbriatus]]''), and legless lizard (''[[Anelytropsis papillosus]]'')
| auto = yes
| parent = Squamata
<!-- | taxon = Lacertilia
| authority = [[Albert C. L. G. Günther|Günther]], 1867 -->| includes = :[[Anguimorpha]]
:[[Dibamidae]]
:[[Gekkota]]
:[[Iguanomorpha]]
:[[Lacertoidea]]
:[[Scincomorpha]]
| excludes_text = Squamates that are not considered lizards
| excludes = :[[Snake|Serpentes]]
:[[Amphisbaenia]] (sometimes)
:{{extinct}}[[Mosasauroidea]]
| range_map = Lizard range.png
| range_map_caption = Range of the lizards, all species.
| synonyms = Sauria <small> [[James Macartney (anatomist)|Macartney]], 1802</small>
}}

'''Lizard''' is the common name used for all [[Squamata|squamate]] [[reptile]]s other than [[snake]]s (and to a lesser extent [[amphisbaenia]]ns), encompassing over 7,000 [[species]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/search?search=lizard&submit=Search|title=The Reptile Database|website=Reptile-database.reptarium.cz|access-date=2022-06-13|archive-date=2022-06-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220613093958/http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/search?search=lizard&submit=Search|url-status=live}} Retrieved on 2022-06-13</ref> ranging across all continents except [[Antarctica]], as well as most [[Island#Oceanic islands|oceanic]] [[Archipelago|island chains]]. The grouping is [[Paraphyly|paraphyletic]] as some lizards are more closely related to snakes than they are to other lizards. Lizards range in size from [[chameleon]]s and [[gecko]]s a few centimeters long to the 3-meter-long [[Komodo dragon]].

Most lizards are quadrupedal, running with a strong side-to-side motion. Some lineages (known as "[[legless lizard]]s") have secondarily lost their legs, and have long snake-like bodies. Some lizards, such as the forest-dwelling ''[[Draco (genus)|Draco]]'', are able to glide. They are often [[Territory (animal)|territorial]], the males fighting off other males and signalling, often with bright colours, to attract mates and to intimidate rivals. Lizards are mainly carnivorous, often being [[sit-and-wait predators]]; many smaller species eat insects, while the Komodo eats mammals as big as [[water buffalo]].

Lizards make use of a variety of [[antipredator adaptation]]s, including [[venom]], [[camouflage]], [[reflex bleeding]], and the ability to [[autotomy|sacrifice and regrow their tails]].