There are different species of lizards in Missouri alone. Missouri has no known invasive or toxic lizards; all are perfectly safe for people and the environment.
We will go into more information about each of these lizards in Missouri.
1. Prairie Lizard
The Prairie Lizard is one of the lizards in Missouri. It’s a small to medium-sized terrestrial reptile that can reach a maximum length of 5 inches.
Their powerful front and rear legs let them run with agility and muscle.
In the breeding season, males are fiercely protective of their territory. To entice the other sex, they perform a push-up dance and bob their heads up and down.
The blue markings on a male’s belly and throat can be used to identify him.
In Missouri, the area where grasslands and forests meet is home to prairie lizards.
They are most active during the day and are frequently seen lounging on rocks or logs that have been exposed to the sun.
These lizards in Missouri eat mostly insects and spiders, such as beetles and ants. It can reject its tail and run away if it feels threatened by a predator.
The tail keeps twitching, which normally diverts the attention of predators.
2. Slender Glass Lizard
At first glance, the Slender Glass Lizard may appear more like a snake than a lizard. This is a result of glass lizards’ lack of legs.
However, a few additional characteristics make them more closely related to lizards than snakes.
Snakes lack the physical characteristics of slim glass lizards, such as movable eyelids, a limited jaw range, and ear holes.
The coloring of Slender Glass Lizards can be used to identify them. Their color is usually bright orange or yellow, with vertical black stripes running along their sides from the head to the tip of their tail.
There isn’t another lizard-like it in Missouri, save for this one. It consumes any little prey it can ingest, as well as insect larvae and bird eggs. If they sense danger, they may wag their tails. It’s no easy task.
The tail of a slim glass lizard can reach up to two-thirds of its body length! These lizards in Missouri can reach a length of 26 inches.
3. Eastern Collared Lizard
The Eastern Collared Lizard is a medium-sized reptile with an average length of 8 to 14 inches. They stick out from their surroundings thanks to their vibrant stripes and patches.
Males have a gray head, a light blue and yellow body, and a neck that is distinctly collared in black and white.
Ladies have a similar appearance but are paler. Southern Missouri’s rocky glades and hillsides are home to most of them.
During the day, Eastern Collared Lizards are visible, sunbathing on rocks and keeping an eye out for prey. They consume big insects, spiders, and sometimes other reptiles.
The state’s fire suppression measures caused a sharp drop in their population, although more recent adjustments have reversed that trend.
Problematic plants that keep Eastern Collared Lizards from prospering have disappeared after restoring fire.
4. Texas Horned Lizard
The Texas Horned Lizard is not a toad, despite the fact that you may know it as the “horny toad.”
Because of its small tail, some onlookers might mistake this flat-bodied lizard for an amphibian. It inhabits bright, open glades and rocky hillsides.
While waiting for prey to pass, they conceal themselves by nestling into small pebbles or substrates.
Because the horn-like protrusions around their heads give them a dragon-like appearance, they are known as “horned lizards.”
They are available in tan, brown, and gray tones. The habitat in which they dwell affects their coloration.
Their favorite food is ants, and the Texas Horned Lizard’s favorite way to hunt is to track down ant trails and harvest the ants one by one.
These lizards in Missouri will inflate themselves to seem larger if they sense a predator is threatening them. They can shoot blood globules out of their eyes if that doesn’t work.
5. Great Plains Skink
The Great Plains Skink is a big, flat lizard that can reach a length of 11 inches. They are under observation because they may be at risk of extinction and are found in far western Missouri.
The habitat of this lizard is at risk due to agriculture and the degradation of prairies. The sleek, smooth body, triangular head, and intriguing scale pattern help identify males from females.
Each scale has a dark brown or black border, and the body is tan or light brown. Lizards in their youth have yellow patches on their heads and vivid blue tails.
These lizards in Missouri consume typical prairie invertebrates such as beetles and grasshoppers.
They prefer to reside in thickets or heaps of brush and under grass thatch. They are relatively solitary.
6. Coal Skinks
The moniker “Coal Skinks” does not accurately describe their color. Rather, they are tan or dark brown. Its body has black stripes along the length of each side.
With the exception of the males’ orange-colored head scales during the breeding season, females and males have the same appearance.
They are dependent on the damp environments found in open woodlands and forests. Because it lives most of its life beneath the leaf litter on the forest floor, it is quite rare.
Because these lizards in Missouri lack large arms and legs, coal skinks primarily move their tails to move about.
The skink will drop its tail and wiggle if it feels threatened, deterring the predator. Wildlife experts say the Coal Skink inhabits a large area in southern Missouri.
Because they are so rare, very little is known about their breeding behaviors.
7. A Six-Lined Racerunner
There’s a reason it’s called the Six-lined Racerunner. Even though they are only 8 inches long, these lizards in Missouri can run up to 18 mph!
Its six yellow stripes, which run from its head to its tail, and its dark gray coloring help to identify one.
Like most tiny lizards, the Six-lined Racerunner can drop its tail in response to perceived predator threat.
The tail can grow back as well. Whether it is a male or female determines the color of its belly.
The bellies of males are blue-gray, whereas those of females are either white or pink. In order to avoid predators, they would dart between shallow burrows, bask on rocks, and even run straight into streams.
The Six-lined Racerunner has two subspecies, and they inhabit much of Missouri.
While Prairie Racerunners are found everywhere except northern Missouri, Eastern Six-lined Racerunners are more prevalent in the southeast and east.
8. Broadhead Skink
People who are just starting to learn how to identify lizards will have fun looking for the Broad-headed Skink.
Females are tan all over with vertical stripes running from head to tail, while males have a brilliant orange triangular head and a strong tan body. Both sexes are relatively “flat” and have short limbs.
Compared to other lizards in Missouri, they are simpler to identify thanks to their average length of 10.5 inches.
Although females nest together, they are antagonistic outside of the breeding season. More than a dozen eggs can be found in their communal nests.
Vast-minded Forests are the preferred habitat of skinks. They live well while hiding behind leaf litter and searching for worms, spiders, and insects.
As they search for their next meal, these lizards in Missouri have been seen hanging out high on a tree. Trees are also fair game.
9. A Little Brown Skink
It’s fittingly dubbed the Little Brown Skink. Its scales come in various hues of brown, and its length is only 4 inches.
The underbelly is light tan or white, and the back and head are chestnut. A dark brown lateral stripe is on either side from the nose to the tail.
In Missouri, Little Brown Skinks are the only species of skink that do not climb. Its preferred habitat is the ground, where it burrows beneath leaf litter, thickets, and fallen trees.
They consume worms and tiny insects. Almost all larger animals eat these lizards in Missouri; some birds prefer to eat Little Brown Skinks over worms!
10. Prairie Skink
Native to the vast grasslands and plains of western Missouri are prairie skinks. There, in the broad, sunlit countryside, they flourish.
One can be distinguished by its stubby legs, dark gray and black stripes, and lithe, thin body.
Human development of the grasslands for residential and agricultural purposes threatens them.
In the wild, they spend most of their time under rocks, but they are active at dawn and dusk—a behavior known as “crepuscular.” Most of their food consists of spiders and other tiny insects.
These lizards in Missouri are typically approximately 6 inches long to consume mid-sized beetles and crickets.
There are two subspecies in Missouri. The Prairie Skinks in the north are larger and have darker coloring.
They reside in Missouri’s northwest corner. Southern Missouri is home to Southern Prairie Skinks, which have darker coloring.
Conclusion
There are different kinds of lizards in Missouri, and none of them are harmful to people.
Lizards often have a long body, tail, short neck, and small head. They are ectothermic, or cold-blooded, like all reptiles.
Along with snakes and amphisbaenians, they belong to the order Squamata, which comprises scaled reptiles.
Although they are closely related to snakes, lizards can be distinguished from snakes mostly by their legs.
However, some of these lizards in Missouri are legless. Their external ear holes and moveable eyelids help identify them.
