Anyone that’s ever been to Florida knows that its hot and humid sub-tropical environment is a mecca for exotic reptilian species, including lizards and chameleons (which actually also are lizards).
Did you know that the Sunshine State is home to over 60 lizard species?!
Perhaps even more surprising than the sheer number of species is that only 15 of those are actually native.
Many of the most common Florida lizards (some of which also live in other places in the U.S., like brown anoles, green iguanas, and geckos, are established invasives.
Some of native lizards in Florida are quite hard to track down, but they’re the real gems of this tropical paradise.
In This Article
Green Anole Anolis carolinensis
Range: Throughout Florida
Size: 5-8”
Description: Slender, green, smooth skin, long tail
Habitat: Semi-arboreal, bushes, fencelines
The Green Anole, also known as the Carolina Anole or the American Anole, is the only anole species native to Florida. But you can find it in other places throughout the Southeast US, even in Texas.
Their brown, invasive cousins are far easier to find, but these green gems certainly stand out, especially when the males flash their bright red dewlaps.
Green Anoles eat insects primarily (opens in new tab), but they also occasionally sample seeds and grains.
This species is highly territorial, and males can often be seen chasing each other away and exhibiting threat displays.
In captivity, they can be cared for really well – if you know how to do it.
Six-lined Racerunner Aspidoscelis sexlineatus
Range: Throughout Florida, except southcentral wetlands
Size: 6-10”
Description: Slender, brown or black with six yellow lines running lengthwise down the body, greenish tinge, smooth skin, long tail
Habitat: Mostly terrestrial, loamy terrains, grasslands, woodlands, open floodplains, rocky outcroppings
The six-lined racerunner is native to much of the southeastern United States. There’s even a small, isolated population in Michigan.
It’s an incredibly shy and speedy little lizard, reaching speeds of up to 18 mph when it flees.
Like anoles, this species actively hunts for insects during the daytime.
Island Glass Lizard Ophisaurus compressus
Range: Throughout Florida, except southcentral wetlands
Size: 15-24”
Description: Legless, tan base color with black down the sides and yellow and black speckling on the sides of the face, looks like a snake with eyelids and ears.
Habitat: Sandy scrub habitats, islands
The Island Glass Lizard may be distinguished from other legless lizard species by two dark stripes running down either side of the lizard’s body and, sometimes, a dark line running down the lizard’s back.
Slender Glass Lizard Ophisaurus attenuatus
Range: Throughout Florida, except southcentral wetlands
Size: 22-42”
Description: Legless, brown or black with yellow lengthwise stripes of varying lengths, looks like a snake with eyelids and ears.
Habitat: Dry, sandy coasts
The Slender Glass Lizard is typically thinner than its other legless cousins and features dark speckling down the entire lower sides of its body.
Mimic Glass Lizard Ophisaurus mimicus
Range: Florida Panhandle
Size: 15-26”
Description: Legless, shorter than other glass lizard species, bronze with yellow and black stripes and speckles, looks like a snake with eyelids and ears.
Habitat: Dry longleaf pine flatwoods
This species may be distinguished from other legless lizards by the dark stripes running down the lower half of each side of its body.
Unlike other glass lizard species found throughout Florida, this species is only found in the Florida panhandle.
Eastern Glass Lizard Ophisaurus ventralis
Range: Throughout Florida
Size: 18-43”
Description: Legless, light brown to black with green and yellow speckling, looks like a snake with eyelids and ears.
Habitat: Coastal dunes, sandy coastal plains, and wetlands
Unlike its cousins, this species has no lengthwise stripes on its side or back. Instead, it has a series of irregular white vertical lines behind its head. It is the longest glass lizard species in Florida.
Coal Skink Plestiodon anthracinus
Range: Florida Panhandle
Size: 5-7”
Description: Short legs, slender, shiny, gray or brown with four light-colored stripes, blue tail
Habitat: Along streams, semi-aquatic
This elusive species is an uncommon find in its minimal range of the Florida panhandle and several isolated populations scattered around the eastern half of the United States.
It’s classified as a species of least concern by the IUCN, and it is poorly understood and not well-studied.
They prefer humid habitats along bodies of fast-moving water. They’ll hide amongst rocks, leaf litter, and vegetation, then dive into the water if detected.
This is an insectivorous species that’s active during the day.
Mole Skink Plestiodon egregius
Range: Throughout Florida, except southcentral wetlands
Size: 3-6”
Description: Tiny, short legs, slender, blue or orange long tail, shiny
Habitat: Hot, dry environments with loose soil
There are currently five recognized subspecies of mole skink. They are:
- Florida Keys Mole Skink
- Cedar Key Mole Skink
- Bluetail Mole Skink
- Peninsula Mole Skink
- Northern Mole Skink
This species is entirely terrestrial and even semi-fossorial. They never climb, but they can be found hidden under rotting logs, leaf litter, and burrowed into dry, loose soil.
Instead of running, they “swim” into the sand to safety when they encounter a threat. They were named after this very mole-like behavior.
Common Five-lined Skink Plestiodon fasciatus
Range: Northern Florida
Size: 5-8”
Description: Brown with five light-colored stripes running down their body, juveniles have a blue tail, and adult males have an orange head.
Habitat: Any
The common five-lined skink is not picky about its habitat. It can be found in almost the entire Eastern half of the United States, and it’s equally at home on the ground or in trees.
The males of this species are highly territorial to other males, while the females exhibit surprising levels of maternal care, including using their bodies to regulate the temperature and humidity of the eggs, retrieving displaced eggs, and consuming rotten eggs so they don’t affect the rest of the eggs.
Southeastern Five-lined Skink Plestiodon inexpectatus
Range: Throughout Florida
Size: 5-8”
Description: Brown with five light-colored stripes running down their body, juveniles have a blue tail, and adult males have an orange head.
Habitat: Dry pine forests and coastal environments
This species is quite similar to the common five-lined skink.
The main difference in behavior is that this species tends to inhabit dryer habitats like pine forests, whereas the common five-lined skink prefers moist wetlands and woodlands.
As their name suggests, they can only be found in the southern portion of the eastern United States.
Broadhead Skink Plestiodon laticeps
Range: North and Central Florida
Size: 6-13”
Description: Large, short legs, heavy-bodied, monotone bronze or olive body with an orange head
Habitat: Woodlands and forests
While still commonly found on the ground, the broadhead skink is the most arboreal skink in Florida.
Like other skinks, the broadhead skink’s diet consists primarily of insects. Thanks to their large size, though, they often overpower and consume other small lizards and even mammals.
Florida Sand Skink Plestiodon reynoldsi
Range: 7 Counties in Central Florida
Size: 4-5”
Description: Tiny, barely-visible legs, white or light gray body with darker speckling
Habitat: Florida scrublands
This is undoubtedly the most unique skink species in Florida.
Their small, white bodies that evolved to blend in with the sand certainly make them stand out from the more drab, woodsy-colored skinks.
Their legs are so tiny that they’re barely visible. At first glance, Florida sand skinks look like little snakes.
They eat surface-dwelling invertebrates, like termites and larvae.
They spend almost their entire lives buried 2-4” beneath the surface of the ground.
Ground Skink Scincella lateralis
Range: Throughout Florida, except southcentral wetlands
Size: 3-5.5”
Description: Short legs, copper brown with a black stripe running down each side of their body
Habitat: Areas with loose soil and plenty of leaf cover
This is another skink species that virtually never climbs and, instead, “swims” into the soil to escape predators.
It’s the smallest species of skink in the eastern United States.
Female ground skinks display no maternal behaviors and abandon their nest as soon as they finish laying their clutch of 1-6 eggs.
Eastern Fence Lizard Sceloporus undulatus
Range: North and Central Florida
Size: 4-7”
Description: Rough scales, gray with black horizontal zig-zag stripes, males have bright blue throats during the mating season.
Habitat: Dry forests
This species is highly arboreal, often fleeing to fences, shrubs, and trees at the slightest sign of danger.
Like all other lizards in Florida, the eastern fence lizard is insectivorous.
They’re a common sight in their native range but undoubtedly challenging to catch!
Males exhibit “push-up like” behavior to attract their mates.
Florida Scrub Lizard Sceloporus woodi
Bob Peterson from North Palm Beach, Florida, Planet Earth!, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Range: Isolated populations throughout Florida
Size: 5”
Description: Gray or light brown with one dark brown stripe down each side of its body, males have blue on their throat and belly, body type similar to an anole but with semi-rough scales.
Habitat: Florida scrublands
The Florida scrub lizard inhabits isolated patches of evergreen oak and sand pine scrubland throughout Florida. They require open areas for basking and dry conditions. They’re never found in Florida’s wetlands or anywhere with a closed canopy.
These Florida lizards are most commonly found in the Ocala National Forest, but their population is declining due to habitat loss. They’re classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN.
The segmented populations have been separated for so long that they’re genetically different. The four main Florida scrub lizard populations are located in:
- Ocala National Forest
- Inland central peninsula
- Atlantic coast scrubs
- Gulf coast scrubs
If you want to learn more about lizards and the different kinds there are, read here!