Indonesian Lizard Species
- The Komodo dragon is one of the most recognized lizard species in the world. It can grow to be almost 10 feet in length, making it the world's largest lizard species. The Komodo is thought to have lived in Australia millions of years ago, but now only resides on the island of Komodo in Indonesia. They are major predators and hunt large mammals such as deer. The Komodo was initially thought to have a toxic bite because of the large amount of dangerous bacteria in its mouth, but it has recently been discovered to be slightly venomous as well.
- The Asian house gecko is a small gecko species that is extremely common in Indonesia. The geckos are small and grey with blue spots, wide eyes and prehensile tails that help them climb surfaces. Many Indonesian farmers are now making nearly three times what they would farming by hunting geckos to sell to Asian markets that use geckos in medicine.
- Indonesia is home to many monitor lizard species, which are closely related to the Komodo dragon. Monitor lizards are large lizards, similar to iguanas but without spines on their backs. They have long, sharp claws for catching and pulling apart prey. Some of the monitor species found in Indonesia include the mangrove monitor, quince monitor, peacock monitor, roughneck monitor, turquoise monitor and the Lirung monitor, which was only just discovered in 2010.
- The blue-tongued skink is native to Indonesia and can be found throughout most of the country. This skink is one of the largest skink species, growing up to 2 feet long. It gets its name from its bright blue tongue, which it uses to help it eat insects, eggs and small fruit such as berries.
