Not all lizards are nocturnal, but there is such family called “Nocturnal lizards”. Nocturnal lizards (Xantusiidae) – a family of lizards from the infraorder of skinks. They live in stony dry regions in the south-west of the USA, in Central America and in Cuba. The family, whose name comes from the predominantly nocturnal activity of its representatives, includes 18 species.
In the evening twilight they go hunting. In the afternoon, night lizards hide in the crevices of rocks and under rocks. Their length reaches a maximum of 15 cm, their food includes insects and spiders.
One of the characteristic features of night lizards are immobile eyelids. Like the gecko, they have grown into a kind of spectacles. The lower eyelid is a transparent “window”. In the light, their slit-shaped pupils are visible.
The belly and the back of the night lizards are covered with scales, and on the head it takes the form of a kind of shield. Night lizards do not lay eggs, but give birth to their cubs to the light alive. In the body of the mother, the cub feeds through the placenta, as in many mammals.
