4 Types of Lizards in New Jersey: Native Species and One Invasive Newcomer
September 19, 2026
Most people picture lizards as creatures of the desert Southwest, not the Garden State. Yet New Jersey supports a small but resilient community of lizards, and knowing the different types of lizards in New Jersey helps homeowners, hikers, and backyard naturalists tell a harmless native skink from a lizard that arrived here entirely by accident.
Only three lizard species are considered true New Jersey natives, and one additional species has become firmly established after escaping the pet trade decades ago. Each has a distinct look, habitat preference, and story, and this guide breaks down all four so you can identify whichever one turns up in your yard, woodpile, or garden wall.
Before getting into the details of each species, here is a quick side-by-side comparison to use as a reference while reading:
| Species | Status in NJ | Typical Size | Where to Look | Key ID Feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Fence Lizard | Native | 4 to 7.25 inches | Tree trunks, rotting logs, pine woods | Rough spiny scales, blue belly patches on males |
| Common Five-Lined Skink | Native | Roughly 5 to 8.5 inches | Woodlands, rock piles, brush | Five cream stripes on a dark body; bright blue tail in juveniles |
| Ground Skink | Native | 3 to 5.75 inches | Leaf litter in southern NJ woods | Tiny size, smooth glossy scales, never climbs |
| Italian Wall Lizard | Invasive | Similar length to a five-lined skink, but slimmer | Rock walls, gardens, sidewalks near Burlington County | Granular scales, green-brown-yellow blotching |
1. Northern Fence Lizard
The northern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus hyacinthinus) is New Jersey’s only spiny lizard and one of the easiest species to spot once you know where to look. According to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s field guide, the fence lizard measures 4 to 7 1/4 inches, is the only spiny lizard in the area, and appears as a small gray or brown lizard with a high tendency to climb. Males show off vibrant blue coloring on the sides of the belly and base of the throat, while females carry a paler and smaller version of the same marking.
This species earns its common name from its habit of basking on wooden fences, but it is equally at home elsewhere. The Northern Fence Lizard is arboreal, commonly found on tree trunks, rotting logs, stumps and fences, and is only occasionally found on the ground before dashing to a tree for safety. Locals in the Pine Barrens sometimes call it the “pine lizard” because of its frequent occurrence in open pine woods, and it is often heard racing away before it is actually seen.
Fence lizards are widespread across southern New Jersey. Their range covers all of the Southern Region, and within the Northern Region they turn up in Monmouth County and the southern parts of Mercer and Middlesex Counties. The best window for finding one runs from May through September, when the lizards are most active and males are displaying their breeding colors.
Pro Tip: If a fence lizard notices you on the ground, watch the nearest tree. Startled lizards typically dart upward and freeze on the far side of the trunk, then dodge higher and around again if you keep approaching.
Because the northern fence lizard is a subspecies of the wider-ranging eastern fence lizard, related populations show up well beyond New Jersey’s borders. Readers curious about how this same lizard family behaves further south can compare notes with the lizards found in Tennessee, where fence lizards share territory with several skink relatives.
2. Common Five-Lined Skink
The common five-lined skink is the most colorful of New Jersey’s native lizards, at least while young. Camden County’s environmental affairs office notes that the native five-lined skink (Plestiodon fasciatus) is a colorful and energetic lizard that inhabits woodlands and rocky areas with plenty of places to hide, feeds on insects and spiders, and is known for having bright blue tails as juveniles.
That electric-blue tail fades as the lizard matures. Observers along the New Jersey Pine Barrens describe how young five-lined skinks have the nice blue tail, and as they get older they lose the blue and eventually turn bronze with an orange head. Breeding males take on an even more distinctive look each spring, developing an orange-red flush along the jaws during courtship season.
Five-lined skinks tend to stay closer to cover than fence lizards do. Pine Barrens residents who watch both species side by side note that skinks are more secretive than fence lizards, which climb visibly, while skinks are usually found under boards and similar objects where conditions stay moist, retreating under cover rather than climbing when startled. Their diet leans heavily on garden and forest insects, which makes them a useful, low-key form of natural pest control around homes bordering wooded lots. Anyone tracking what else these skinks might be hunting can check the local rundown of beetles found in New Jersey or the state’s many spider species, both regular menu items.
Common Mistake: Juvenile five-lined skinks and ground skinks are frequently confused because both are small and quick. Five-lined skinks show a vivid blue tail and five distinct pale stripes; ground skinks lack the blue tail entirely and show only faint, blended side stripes.
Life history data gathered from wild populations in the Pine Barrens suggest these skinks are relatively long-lived for a small reptile. Young five-lined skinks can live up to six years and typically reach sexual maturity, beginning to reproduce, within two to three years of hatching. Females that are brooding eggs also become notably defensive, and will exhibit defensive behavior against smaller predators during incubation, though parental care ends within a day or two of the eggs hatching.
3. Ground Skink
Also called the little brown skink, the ground skink is the smallest and least conspicuous lizard in New Jersey. The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey describes Scincella lateralis as an elusive member of the lizard family, small, slender, and short of leg, measuring between 3 and 5 1/2 inches. Coloring runs from tan to almost black, though most individuals are a coppery color with dark lateral stripes on either side of the body and a creamy underside.
Unlike the fence lizard, this species has essentially given up climbing altogether. The ground skink typically prefers areas with loose soil and ground cover, and true to its name, virtually never climbs, unlike other forest-dwelling skinks. Instead of running, it slithers quickly through plant debris and soil, often taking shelter under leaf litter and logs and disappearing fast when discovered. That behavior makes it far more often heard rustling through leaves than actually seen.
Key Insight: Ground skinks have a transparent window built into their lower eyelid, letting them keep watch for predators even when their eyes appear closed, a trick shared with several other skink species worldwide.
New Jersey sits near the northern edge of this species’ range. Within the state, the ground skink can be found in the southern half, in areas with loose soil and abundant ground cover. It is also a short-lived lizard compared to its five-lined relative: this is a short-lived species, with most individuals surviving up to two years and very rarely as long as four, with courtship and mating occurring in the spring and summer months.
Diet-wise, ground skinks focus almost entirely on tiny invertebrates. They act as predators of invertebrates such as insects and spiders, searching for prey as they essentially swim through ground debris, with both adults and young feeding on invertebrates. That includes many of the same species covered in a broader look at New Jersey’s caterpillars and the busy ant colonies found throughout the state’s leaf litter and gardens.
4. Italian Wall Lizard
The Italian wall lizard is the outlier on this list: the only nonnative species among New Jersey’s established lizards, and the most recent arrival. Podarcis siculus did not evolve anywhere near the Garden State. As one regional radio outlet put it, these rapid evolvers are native to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, and Switzerland, but most prominently Italy.
Its New Jersey origin story traces to a single township. The lizard’s introduction point is Burlington County, and while the reptiles have been spotted around the Northeast for over 30 years, their origin story remained a mystery until 2010, when it was traced back to Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Like many invasive reptiles, the Italian wall lizard is widely believed to have gotten its start through escaped or released pets, a pattern shared by other lizard species that turn up far outside their natural range. Readers weighing whether to keep a lizard of their own can review the realities of care in this overview of popular pet reptiles before bringing one home.
Once established, Italian wall lizards adapt readily to human surroundings. Populations documented in neighboring states show they thrive in urban, rocky, and shrubby habitats, feeding on small invertebrates and other insects while living comfortably alongside people. Their appearance varies quite a bit from one population to the next: these lizards come in various shades of green, brown, and yellowish, sometimes showing blotches or stripes on the body, with very small, granular scales.
Important Note: Because Italian wall lizards are an introduced species that can compete with native skinks and fence lizards for food and territory, wildlife officials generally discourage releasing any captive lizard into the wild, even accidentally.
Longtime Mount Laurel residents have noticed just how bold these lizards can get around people. One former township official recalled to the Burlington County Times that it was almost like a daily ritual, since the lizard would run in front of her every time she returned from lunch. That comfort around humans is part of why the species has spread so successfully through the Burlington County area and beyond, unlike New Jersey’s shier native lizards.
New Jersey is far from the only place dealing with an introduced lizard species establishing itself alongside native wildlife. Similar dynamics play out with the anoles and geckos that have taken hold across Hawaii’s islands and with the wall lizard populations spreading through parts of California, both of which offer useful points of comparison for how quickly a nonnative reptile can become a permanent neighbor.
Taken together, these four species show just how much diversity a single mid-Atlantic state can hold, even without the desert heat that supports the sprawling lizard communities of Arizona, Texas, or Florida. For anyone spending time in New Jersey’s woodlands, pine barrens, or older suburban neighborhoods near Burlington County, learning to tell these four types of lizards in New Jersey apart turns a quick backyard glimpse into a genuine identification win, whether it’s a spiny fence lizard sunning on a stump, a blue-tailed skink darting under a woodpile, or a wall lizard sizing up a garden brick from a few feet away.