Lizards are common everywhere, except in the Arctic region. The greatest species diversity is represented in the tropics. Some species adapted to life in the sea near the shore – marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus) or latent eyes (Cryptoblepharus). Most lizards live, however, on the ground or on trees, well adapted to such a life.
Living on the ground, scintidae (Scintidae), at which the finitenesses atrophied in the habitat of the lizard evolution, are a kind of transitional link between lizards and snakes. The evolutionary development of the giant chain-tailed skinks (Corucia) lived quite differently. In the process of adaptation to external conditions, they developed strong paws with long claws and a tenacious tail. Belonging to the same family of skink short-tailed skinks (Trachydosaurus) have a thickened tail, in which they can accumulate reserve fat. Similar tails are also found in many geckos (Gekkonidae) and in the jaundiced (Helodermatidae).
Lizards, living in the trees of tropical rain forests, have slender, long (especially hind legs) with powerful claws, often a very long tail. Protective green color allows them to mask well. Special adaptability is demonstrated by geckos (Gekkonidae) and chameleons (Chamaeleonidae). Geckos have the aforementioned lamellar pads-suckers. In active geckos, the color of the body is green. Geckoes, leading a nocturnal life on trees, the color is dark brown, and the shape of the tail is similar to a leaf of a tree. Even better, chameleons are fitted to the trees, having tenacious fingers and the same tails. Lizards, spending most of their lives in water or on water, have a paddle-shaped tail. Marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) living on the Galapagos Islands are rarely found in European terrariums. Significantly more frequent are the Australian lizards of Mertens (Varanus mertensi) and crocodile bushes (Shinisaurus crocodilurus) from the southern provinces of China.
