Lizards, Reptiles and Amphibians

We watched a Geico commercial awhile back, a guy in a laboratory being consumed by a green glob of gunk.  Stupid, blah, yuk!  "I liked the lizard better." said I. "Geckos aren't lizards," Trish responded. Googled it: yup, they're lizards alright.  That got me wondering about the lizard family: who's included, who isn't, are the marine iguanas I saw in the Galapagos Islands lizards or amphibians? Here's the skinny, lizard lovers, amazing facts and statistics you always wanted to know but never realized until just now.

Geckos are the smallest of the lizards, which are a subset of the reptile family.  The largest lizard is the Komodo dragon which can weigh up to 300 pounds and reach 10' in length.  They're carnivores, are very quick and they do consume the occasional human, bones and all.  Grabbing one by the tail isn't really a good idea.

This might surprise you: modern scientists include birds in the reptile family.  When we visited Dinosaur National Monument last year, one of the rangers said, "Birds are dinosaurs."  Golly gee, Mister Science!

If you're cold-blooded, have overlapping scales and are not a snake, you're a lizard.  If you're a  cold-blooded vertebrate with dry, scaly skin and lay soft shelled eggs on land you're a reptile.  If you have both lungs and gills - like frogs, newts, turtles and salamanders - you're an amphibian.

Marine iguanas aren't amphibians but can stay underwater for up to 45 minutes, chowing down on algae, their favorite food.  Although not very photogenic, they love to pose for pictures, big grins on their faces.