The lizards’ life expectancy varies considerably. In many relatively small species, it does not exceed 1-3 years, while large iguanas and monitor lizards live 50-70 years or more. Some lizards survived for 20 – 30 and even 50 years in captivity. Most lizards benefit by eating a significant amount of harmful insects and invertebrates.
Meat of some large species is quite edible, because of what they are often the object of special fishing, and the skin of these reptiles is also used by man. In some countries, the capture and destruction of some lizards are prohibited by law. At present, about 4000 species of various lizards are known, usually united in 20 families and almost 390 genera.
The lizard is a very interesting animal. At the moment, scientists have installed more than 3800 species of lizards, which are united in 20 biological families. All of them are different in color, size, habitat.
Lizards live all over the world, on all the continents of our vast planet, naturally, except Antarctica. Even in ancient times the dinosaurs lived the ancestors of the present lizards. Then they called themselves “Brontosaurus”. They were just huge giants, their length was 22 meters, and the height – 5 meters! They lived in those days in North America. Despite their enormous size, they were herbivorous and did not eat smaller animals
