4 Types of Lizards in New York: From Native Skinks to Invasive Anoles
September 24, 2026
Cold winters and dense urban sprawl make New York one of the least lizard-friendly states in the country, yet a handful of species still cling to rocky hillsides, city parks, and even a converted greenhouse. Anyone researching the types of lizards in New York quickly discovers that the state’s reptile roster is short but genuinely interesting, mixing rare native holdouts with recent arrivals that hitched a ride through the pet trade.
This guide walks through the five-lined skink, the Italian wall lizard, the brown anole, and the northern fence lizard, four species that represent nearly the entire lizard fauna found within New York’s borders.
Before diving into individual species, it helps to know what separates a lizard from the salamanders many New Yorkers confuse them with. According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, lizards can be told apart from salamanders because
Lizards can be distinguished from salamanders by their scaly reptilian skin and sharp claws, since salamanders lack claws and have smooth, quick-drying skin. Like snakes, they molt as they grow, though lizards shed their skin in small pieces rather than in one complete piece the way snakes do. That distinction matters when you are trying to identify what darted under a rock in a state park.
Quick Reference: New York’s Lizard Species at a Glance
New York is home to a total of five lizard species once introduced populations are counted, and only three of those five are native to the region. The table below summarizes how the four species covered in this guide compare on status, size, and where you’re most likely to spot one.
| Species | Status in New York | Typical Adult Size | Where to Find It |
|---|---|---|---|
| Five-Lined Skink | Native | About 5 to 8.5 inches | Rocky, dry woodlands statewide |
| Italian Wall Lizard | Introduced | Medium, slender build | Queens, the Bronx, Manhattan, Nassau County |
| Brown Anole | Introduced | About 5 to 9 inches | Scattered urban pockets |
| Northern Fence Lizard | Native (rare) | Medium-sized | Staten Island, a few eastern NY sites |
1. Five-Lined Skink: New York’s Most Widespread Native Lizard
The five-lined skink (Plestiodon fasciatus) holds the title of the state’s most frequently encountered lizard. According to New York State Parks, this skink is described as the most common lizard in New York, and its juveniles are especially eye-catching, sporting a uniform black body, yellow stripes, and a bright blue tail that fades to a duller tone with age.
This species belongs to a lizard family with a few distinctive traits. Skinks have no visible neck, a long tail, and short legs, and their smooth scales give them a glossy sheen rather than the dull, matte look of lizards with keeled scales. If a predator grabs hold of a skink’s tail, the animal can simply release it and regrow a new one over time, a defense mechanism called tail regeneration.
Five-lined skinks earn their name honestly: the five light lines that run down the length of their back are the species’ most obvious identifying feature, and they tend to favor dry, rocky terrain and open woodlands rather than wetter habitats. Adults can grow to nearly the size of an average adult finger-span, and some field observations note that breeding males develop reddish blotches near the head, a seasonal color change that helps distinguish mature males from females and juveniles.
Pro Tip: The best time to spot a five-lined skink is on a warm, sunny afternoon when they bask on flat rocks or fallen logs. Approach slowly, since these lizards are quick to dart for cover the moment they sense movement nearby.
Like most New York reptiles, five-lined skinks are opportunistic feeders that key in on movement to locate prey, which typically includes small insects and other invertebrates. Readers curious about what shares the woodlands with this skink can check out this guide to the types of insects in New York to see what’s regularly on the menu. Because the species is genuinely wild and increasingly uncommon in some counties, wildlife officials discourage collecting them as pets, a practice that has contributed to localized population declines.
2. Italian Wall Lizard: An Introduced Resident of New York City
The Italian wall lizard (Podarcis sicula), sometimes called the ruin lizard, has no business being a New York native, and it isn’t one. Research documented by 10,000 Birds traces its arrival to Nassau County in 1967, most likely the result of an accidental pet-store escape, after which the population expanded westward into Queens and has since been recorded as far west as Manhattan and as far north as the Bronx.
What makes this species a favorite among herpetologists isn’t just its unlikely presence in a major metropolitan area. Originally native to Europe, the Italian wall lizard has been the subject of scientific interest because a related population showed rapid evolutionary change after becoming genetically isolated, raising questions about whether New York’s colony has developed any of its own distinguishing traits since 1967. That kind of rapid adaptation is one reason researchers who study popular pet reptiles keep an eye on species that escape captivity and establish wild populations.
On Staten Island, where the Italian wall lizard has also taken hold, its presence carries a conservation concern. Naturalists have observed that the introduced species has moved into Staten Island neighborhoods and may be displacing the borough’s native fence lizards. Because New York recognizes only three native lizard species and this one invasive newcomer alongside the brown anole, the Italian wall lizard is officially counted as the state’s other non-native lizard.
- Look for it sunning on stone walls, rock piles, and sidewalk cracks in Queens, the Bronx, and parts of Manhattan.
- Its slender build and quick, darting movements set it apart from the stockier five-lined skink.
- Nassau County remains the historic center of the New York City population.
3. Brown Anole: A Warm-Climate Invader Turning Up in New York
The brown anole (Anolis sagrei) is a tropical species with no natural business surviving New York winters, yet it keeps turning up anyway. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service notes that brown anoles are native to the Caribbean but have been introduced to several parts of the United States, where they have become invasive. In New York specifically, the species remains uncommon but has been documented in urban pockets, arriving largely through the pet and plant trade rather than natural range expansion.
Physically, brown anoles are compact and adaptable. They display a gray to tan coloring, with males sporting an orangish dewlap under the chin that they flash during territorial displays, particularly during the spring-to-fall breeding season, when males become notably territorial. Adults typically measure between 5 and 9 inches long, making them roughly comparable in size to the native five-lined skink.
Important Note: Because the brown anole can negatively affect local ecosystems, it is treated as a species of concern in New York, and wildlife officials discourage releasing captive individuals into the wild. If you find one, report the sighting to local wildlife authorities rather than relocating it yourself.
The brown anole’s reputation as an ecological troublemaker comes from its track record farther south. In Florida and across the Gulf Coast, the species has been shown to spread rapidly and displace the native green anole from its habitat while competing directly for food and territory. New York’s cold climate limits how far the brown anole can realistically expand, but isolated urban microclimates and heated greenhouses have allowed related anole populations to persist far outside their expected range in other northern states, a pattern that researchers continue to monitor.
Readers interested in how invasive reptiles compare to other adaptable species may also want to browse this overview of lizard species in Florida, where the brown anole is far more established, or this look at lizards found in Texas, another state where the species has expanded its range.
4. Northern Fence Lizard: The Rare Native Clinging to Staten Island
The northern fence lizard, also widely known as the eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus hyacinthinus), is one of New York’s three true native lizard species, and it is by far the rarest. 10,000 Birds reports that this lizard reaches the northeastern extremity of its range in southeastern New York State, occurring in only a handful of counties, which makes any confirmed sighting notable.
Its New York City story is unusual even by lizard standards. According to NYC Microseasons, the city’s only known population traces back to lizards released decades ago as snake food, after which the species established itself on Staten Island and became the borough’s sole wild population of this native reptile.
That release is linked to Carl E. Kauffeld, the Staten Island Zoo curator from 1936 to 1963 who was known for his enthusiasm for snakes. Outside the city, New York State Parks notes that fence lizards also occur in a few scattered locations across eastern New York, including within some state parks.
Identification comes down to a mix of color and texture. The species has gray, roughly keeled scales, with females showing dark wavy markings along the body and males developing a blue patch on the belly during the breeding season. They are described as medium-sized lizards with large claws suited for climbing trees and fence posts, favoring pine forests, grasslands, and shrubland habitats where they can bask in direct sun.
Key Insight: While the eastern fence lizard maintains stable populations across much of its range in the eastern United States, New York’s isolated population has seen a noticeable decline, making it one of the state’s most conservation-sensitive reptiles.
Because this species depends so heavily on undisturbed, sun-exposed habitat, habitat fragmentation poses a real threat to its long-term survival within the state. Anyone exploring Staten Island’s natural areas in search of this lizard should stick to marked trails and avoid disturbing rock piles or fallen logs where it may be sheltering. For a broader sense of how the region’s other cold-blooded and flying wildlife fare, the guides on snakes found in New York and bats native to New York cover species that share much of the same habitat.
Why New York Has So Few Lizard Species
New York’s short lizard list comes down to geography and climate rather than a lack of suitable habitat everywhere in the state. Long, cold winters limit the number of reptile species that can survive without hibernating deep underground, and the state’s dense urban corridors, especially around New York City, leave little undisturbed habitat for ground-dwelling reptiles. Compare this to warmer states covered in guides to lizard diversity in Arizona or lizard species in Tennessee, where milder climates and larger continuous wild areas support far more resident species.
The tradeoff is that every lizard sighting in New York carries a bit more significance. Whether it’s a five-lined skink sunning on a rocky outcrop upstate or an Italian wall lizard skittering across a Queens sidewalk, each encounter reflects a specific, traceable history, be it evolutionary adaptation, an accidental pet-store escape, or a decades-old release that accidentally founded a wild population.
Readers who enjoy tracking down New York’s smaller residents might also appreciate guides to spiders found throughout New York, the state’s common beetles, or the eagles that nest along its waterways, all of which share overlapping habitat with the lizards profiled here.
Identifying New York’s lizards is ultimately a matter of paying attention to a handful of clear traits: overall size, tail color in juveniles, scale texture, and location within the state. With only four species realistically expected to turn up in the field, most sightings can be narrowed down within a few minutes using the details covered above.
For those who want to compare New York’s short list against considerably more diverse lizard faunas, guides covering California’s lizard species and the lizards found across Hawaii offer a useful contrast in just how much climate shapes which reptiles a state can support.