Viviparous Lizard
Zootoca vivipara
Unlike most reptiles, this species gives birth to live young, allowing it to thrive even within the chilly Arctic Circle.
- Scientific name
- Zootoca vivipara
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Reptilia › Squamata › Lacertidae › Zootoca
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- decreasing
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Heathlands, peat bogs, damp grasslands, forest edges, and open woodlands.
- Diet
- Insects, spiders, snails, and small earthworms.
- Range
- Europe, Northern Asia, United Kingdom, Japan
- Size
- 10-15 cm (including tail)
- Lifespan
- 5-6 years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Habitat loss due to agriculture, urbanization, and the encroaching scrubland on heath habitats.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless and non-venomous. Observe from a step back to avoid scaring them. Do not attempt to catch them, as stress can cause them to drop their tails (autotomy). If accidentally touched, wash hands with soap and water.
The viviparous lizard or common lizard , Zootoca vivipara (formerly Lacerta vivipara ), is a Eurasian lizard. It lives farther north than any other species of non-marine reptile, and most populations are viviparous (giving birth to live young), rather than laying eggs as most other lizards do. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Zootoca . Both " Zootoca " and " vivipara " mean "live birth," in Greek and Latin respectively. It was called Lacerta vivipara until the Lacerta genus...
Photo: nearwildhelen, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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