The Mexican Bearded lizard is the most beautiful lizard in the world. It can grow up to three feet long and live up to twenty years. It has colorful stripes on its back and tail. It has red eyes and is often called a friendly lizard because it tends to be very gentle. This lizard is found in the southwestern United States in moist, tropical forests.
Like all lizards, the Mexican beaded lizard grows mostly in the natural environment. Mollusks and crocodiles provide their food, as do several species of birds. However, they are omnivores and feed on small animals, frogs, insects, and snails. They make their homes mainly in caves, rocks, under logs or in mammal burrows that they excavate to make their dens.
While in the wild, they usually prefer warm and humid weather because it is where they breed best and lay their eggs. They move into more tropical environments as adults and do well in south and north America, but in Mexico they tend to stay put because of the hot temperatures. They don’t like being outdoors for long periods of time. They do tend to get a little cold at night, although as long as there are ample food and water they don’t seem to mind.
There are four subspecies of the Mexican beaded lizard. The four subspecies differ in size, color, patterns, and lifestyle. All have pretty patterns that are similar but not the same. Only one of the subspecies, the northern light brown (Lrbocean beige), has been documented to display colors with any pattern at all. The other three, all in the southern hemisphere, only display slight variation in color. Only the green-back variety, which is the smallest of the four, has been photographed to display any pattern at all, so it is assumed that all of these species are monochromatic, which means that each species is naturally colorless.
Because they are warm-blooded, Mexican beaded lizards have bodies that are adapted to maintain an internal temperature of around ninety degrees Fahrenheit. Their scales are thicker than those of most reptiles, which helps them regulate body temperature better. However, unlike reptiles and most mammals, they have a series of fleshy tail flaps that can help them balance out the heat. Their head and neck are covered with hair, and their ears, eyes, and mouth are all located on the tip of their tails.
All four of the species of Mexican beaded lizard are carnivores. They are small in size, with a total length of just over one and a half inches. Their name comes from the fact that they look like they have bat-like feet; hence, the name ‘bat-winged creature’. Although they are small in size and have a clumsy appearance in comparison to other reptiles and mammals, these creatures are capable of very fast movements for their size. Their eyes are larger than most humans’, which helps them spot food. They also have powerful bite force, although they don’t normally use it.
All four species of Mexican beaded lizard have a single long tail (which separates them from each other). This lizard has two toes in front of its main toes and two in back, as well. Their toe claws are rounded and unique, and each pair has a distinctly distinct shape. The toe claw of each species of this creature is surrounded by a ring of hard cartilage. This type of bone is unique to this species only and is therefore very valuable when determining specimens of other species.
The average length of an animal’s tail is between three and four inches long, and the average weight is up to ten pounds. Measuring only around two and a half inches long overall, the average weight of an adult lizard is somewhere between one and two and a half pounds. Some smaller lizards can weigh even less than this. Overall, the slender body of the Mexican beaded lizard lends it to a high level of metabolism, which keeps the lizard healthy. However, there are many species of this reptile that are susceptible to heat stress (an overheated lizard losing body heat and slowing down metabolism to the point where it dies). Be sure to wear a jacket with extra insulation on warm days if you plan to handle any of these lizards.
