11 Types of Lizards in Mississippi and How to Identify Each One
September 23, 2026
Mississippi’s humid pine forests, river bottoms, and suburban gardens support a surprising range of scaly residents. Among the various types of lizards in Mississippi, some are legless and slither like snakes, others change color on command, and two arrived from overseas by accident and never left. Whether one is basking on a porch rail in Jackson or darting through leaf litter in the Piney Woods, knowing which species is which makes every backyard encounter more interesting.
This guide covers eleven lizards found across the state, from the well-known green anole to the rarely seen slender glass lizard. Each section breaks down where a species lives, how it behaves, and the traits that separate it from its lookalikes.
| Lizard | Native Status | Typical Size | Where to Find in Mississippi |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slender Glass Lizard | Native | Large, legless | Sandy woodlands, prairie edges |
| Green Anole | Native | Small | Yards, porches, trees statewide |
| Common Five-lined Skink | Native | Medium | Leaf litter, logs, gardens |
| Southeastern Five-lined Skink | Native | Medium | Woodlands, sandy soils |
| Little Brown Skink | Native | Small | Statewide, under debris |
| Prairie Lizard | Native | Small to medium | Southwestern Mississippi |
| Six-lined Racerunner | Native | Medium | Open, sandy, dry habitats |
| Mediterranean Gecko | Introduced | Small | Buildings, walls at night |
| Brown Anole | Introduced | Small | Coastal counties, urban areas |
| Spiny Lizard (Eastern Fence Lizard) | Native | Small to medium | Eastern Mississippi forests |
| Whiptail | Native | Medium | Same range as racerunner |
1. Slender Glass Lizard
The slender glass lizard (Ophisaurus attenuatus) belongs to a small group of legless lizards that are frequently mistaken for snakes. According to MS Herps, glass lizards are legless lizards that look similar to snakes but have ears, a detail that instantly separates them from any true snake species sharing the same habitat.
The subspecies found in the eastern part of the state is known as the eastern slender glass lizard, or Ophisaurus attenuatus longicaudus, as documented by The Pet Enthusiast. Beyond the ear openings, glass lizards also retain movable eyelids, unlike snakes, and their tails snap off easily when grabbed by a predator.
Pro Tip: If a “snake” seen in a Mississippi yard has visible ear holes or blinking eyes, it is almost certainly a glass lizard, not a snake.
Slender glass lizards favor open, sandy habitats such as prairie edges and pine woodland margins, where they burrow through loose soil hunting insects and smaller reptiles. They are less commonly encountered than the state’s other lizards, largely because they spend most of their lives hidden underground. Readers curious about how legless lizards compare to true snake species can review this Mississippi snake identification guide for side-by-side traits.
2. Green Anole
The green anole (Anolis carolinensis) is the lizard most Mississippians grew up watching on porch screens and garden fences. Per SnakeTracks, green anoles are found across Mississippi and are common in the southeastern United States, and can be found in urban areas, parks, woodlands, coastal forests, and man-made buildings.
What makes this species a favorite for identification practice is its color-shifting skin. Wildlife Informer notes that green anoles are found in rural, urban, and residential areas throughout the southeast and are often considered a staple of southern childhood, with the ability to change skin color from vivid green to deep brown depending on their environment.
Males display a bright red or pink throat fan, called a dewlap, used to signal territory and attract mates. Anyone interested in keeping a similar species at home can browse this pet reptile guide for care basics on anoles and related lizards.
3. Common Five-lined Skink
Skinks are among the most frequently spotted lizards in Mississippi gardens, and the common five-lined skink (Plestiodon fasciatus) is a prime example. Wildlife Informer explains that juveniles of both the common five-lined skink and the broad-headed skink are black with a distinctive bright blue tail and five lines running the length of their bodies, though these stripes typically fade with age as adults develop brown bodies with an orange or red head.
This age-based color change trips up a lot of backyard observers, since a juvenile and an adult of the same species can look almost unrelated. Skinks in general share a few defining traits worth memorizing:
- Smooth, glossy scales rather than the rough texture seen on anoles or fence lizards
- Long bodies with proportionally short legs
- Ground-dwelling habits, rarely climbing more than a few feet
Wildlife Informer confirms that skinks are members of the family Scincidae, and are smooth scaled lizards with long bodies and short legs.
4. Southeastern Five-lined Skink
The southeastern five-lined skink (Plestiodon inexpectatus) is a close relative of the common five-lined skink and shares much of the same coloring, making field identification tricky without a close look at scale rows. MS Herps lists both species side by side among Mississippi’s Common Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus) Southeastern Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon inexpectatus) as part of the state’s shiny-scaled skink group.
Skinks are typically less arboreal than other types of lizards, such as the anoles, spending much of their time on the ground under leaf litter, logs, and other inconspicuous areas, a habit that holds true for this species. It favors sandy, well-drained soils in woodland clearings across the state’s coastal and central regions.
Key Insight: Telling the common and southeastern five-lined skinks apart usually comes down to scale counts along the sides, a detail best confirmed with a field guide or close-up photo rather than a quick glance.
5. Little Brown Skink
The little brown skink (Scincella lateralis) is one of the smallest and most overlooked lizards in the state, despite being everywhere. According to SnakeTracks, the little brown skink is found all over the state and is one of the most common lizards, living in woodlands, swamps, and urban places.
This species is fossorial, meaning it spends most of its life burrowing through loose soil and leaf litter rather than climbing or sunning in the open. Little brown skinks are fossorial, spending their lives in loose dirt or leaf litter, and are not seen often climbing trees but may come out during the day looking for food. Its thin body and tan coloring, referenced directly in its common name, help it disappear into mulch and forest debris almost instantly.
To identify one in the field, try this quick approach:
- Check the size first: adults rarely exceed five inches, far smaller than most other Mississippi skinks.
- Look for a uniform tan or coppery-brown body with no bold stripes.
- Note the habitat: leaf litter, mulch beds, or rotting logs rather than open ground.
6. Prairie Lizard
The prairie lizard (Sceloporus consobrinus) is a member of the spiny lizard family and one of the best climbers among Mississippi’s native species. Bird Watching HQ reports that prairie lizards are best found in southwestern Mississippi in habitats with lots of places to perch, including open forests, tall grass fields, or even dunes.
Coloring tends toward light reddish-brown with a light brown stripe down the spine, with orange or red coloring on the lips and chin sometimes present. These spiny lizards are one of the best climbers in their family, spending most of their time off the ground perched in trees, on fences, and even on sunflowers. Because they also move quickly across open ground, they are easiest to observe from a distance rather than up close, per the same source.
7. Six-lined Racerunner
Speed is the defining trait of the six-lined racerunner (Aspidoscelis sexlineata), and it is not an exaggeration. Bird Watching HQ notes that the six-lined racerunner lives up to its name, clocking speeds of up to 18 miles per hour, letting it easily outrun most predators and curious hikers.
This species is also Mississippi’s sole representative of the whiptail family. Wildlife Informer explains that the eastern six-lined racerunner is the only member of the Teiidae family, commonly known as whiptails, found in Mississippi, and race runners are extremely fast and often only seen from a distance. Diet-wise, six-lined racerunners are insectivores whose primary food source is termites, though they also eat beetles, ants, and spiders, making them useful allies against yard pests. Anyone dealing with heavy ant or termite activity might appreciate this natural pest control alongside tips from a Mississippi ant identification guide.
8. Mediterranean Gecko
Not every lizard on this list is native. The Mediterranean gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus) arrived in the United States as a stowaway on cargo ships and has since spread through much of the South. The Mississippi Encyclopedia confirms that the Mediterranean gecko and brown anole are exotic species that have established breeding populations alongside the state’s twelve native lizard species.
Bird Watching HQ adds that even though Mediterranean house geckos aren’t native to Mississippi, they’re so well-recognized that they belong on any list of geckos in the area. They are almost exclusively nocturnal, clinging to porch lights and building walls while hunting insects drawn to the glow. Readers wanting a deeper dive into the state’s gecko populations can check this Mississippi gecko guide for additional species comparisons.
Important Note: Mediterranean geckos and brown anoles are established, breeding populations rather than occasional strays, meaning both are now a permanent part of Mississippi’s lizard fauna despite their overseas origins.
9. Brown Anole
The brown anole (Anolis sagrei) is the second introduced species on this list and has become increasingly common in coastal and urban parts of the state. MS Herps lists it plainly: Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei) Nonnative, typically seen on building walls at night.
Where brown anoles and green anoles overlap, brown anoles often outcompete their native relatives for basking spots and food, pushing green anoles higher into tree canopies. This same competitive dynamic has played out heavily along the Gulf Coast, a pattern also documented in this Florida lizard identification guide covering the species’ broader range. Brown anoles can be told apart from green anoles by their inability to turn green; they stay brown to gray-brown with a pattern of darker chevrons down the back.
10. Spiny Lizard
Mississippi’s other spiny lizard, beyond the prairie lizard, is the eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus), sometimes simply called the “spiny lizard” for its rough, keeled scales. Bird Watching HQ notes that the eastern fence lizard is most likely found in eastern Mississippi in open forests with plenty of fallen logs and debris to hide in, and is most active during the early morning before it gets too hot.
Coloration on this species runs the gamut: grayish-white, brown, reddish, and nearly black are all common, and females have dark, wavy lines across the back. Males, by contrast, show two bright patches of blue on the throat during breeding season, a feature also seen in the closely related Texas spiny lizard. Behavior across the wider spiny lizard genus tends to follow a similar pattern; the Texas spiny lizard entry on Wikipedia describes how these lizards are typically shy and nervous, retreating up a tree or fleeing noisily through leaf litter on the ground when approached. For readers comparing spiny lizard diversity across the Southwest, this Arizona lizard guide highlights just how varied the Sceloporus genus becomes outside the Southeast.
Common Mistake: Because the prairie lizard and eastern fence lizard both belong to the spiny lizard group and share similar coloring, many observers assume they are the same species. Range and habitat, southwestern versus eastern Mississippi, are the more reliable clues.
11. Whiptail
Technically, Mississippi does not host a true whiptail lizard in the strictest sense; the six-lined racerunner covered earlier fills that ecological role as the state’s only Teiidae family member. The distinction matters for anyone comparing regional field guides, since Backyard Nature explains that racerunner species occur in the southeastern and central United States, while whiptails appear in the southwestern United States.
Both groups belong to the same family and share the build described by the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, which notes that whiptails are long, slender lizards with pointed snouts and extremely long tails. Mississippi’s racerunner shares every one of those traits, along with the same rapid, jerky movement style used to escape predators. For a look at true whiptail diversity in their core range, this California lizard guide and this Mexico lizard guide both cover several Aspidoscelis species living alongside their desert-adapted relatives.
Wrapping Up Mississippi’s Lizard Diversity
From the legless slender glass lizard to the lightning-fast six-lined racerunner, Mississippi’s eleven lizard species cover an unusually wide range of body shapes, habits, and habitats for one state. Twelve species are considered native overall, while the Mediterranean gecko and brown anole represent successful, if uninvited, additions to the state’s reptile community.
Because Mississippi shares so much of its Gulf Coastal Plain terrain with its eastern neighbor, most of these same species also show up on lists of native Alabama reptiles, and this rundown doubles as a workable Alabama lizard identification reference. Anyone searching for common lizards in Alabama or a broader Alabama wildlife guide will recognize nearly every species covered here, since state lines rarely stop a lizard population. For more regional wildlife context, these guides to Mississippi’s snakes, spiders, and frogs round out a fuller picture of the state’s backyard wildlife.