Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus Varanus, the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and one species is also found in the Americas as an invasive species. About 80 species are recognized.
Monitor lizard
Injured Bengal monitor being nursed at the Lok Biradari Prakalp in India
The giant extinct megalania (Varanus priscus)
Bengal monitor (V. bengalensis) with green iguana (Iguana iguana)
Lizard is the common name used for all squamate reptiles other than snakes, encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The grouping is paraphyletic as some lizards are more closely related to snakes than they are to other lizards. Lizards range in size from chameleons and geckos a few centimeters long to the 3-meter-long Komodo dragon.
Lizard
A young Mediterranean house gecko in the process of moulting.
Red tegu (Tupinambis rufescens) skull, showing teeth of differing types
Adhesive pads enable geckos to climb vertically.