Lizards 2: Blue Spiny Lizard

Blue Spiny Lizard

One of the more obvious lizards as you enter the reptile house at Bristol Zoo are the various members of a colony of Blue Spiny Lizards, Sceloporus serrifer cyanogenys. Also known as swifts or fence lizards, there are more than 90 described species of Sceloporus found in North America south through Mexico down into northern South America. There is a certain amount of debate around the taxonomy of the various Sceloporus species – some seem to intergrade with others and several species are divided into multiple subspecies.

Lizards 1: The Gila Monster

The first lizards that a visitor to Bristol Zoo will encounter are two young Gila Monsters (Heloderma suspectum) as they pass through Twilight World. Unfortunately, although these are fascinating animals, most visitors walk straight past as they are not exactly the most active of animals, in fact they generally behave as though they were stuffed. However, when readers of this blog next see an exhibit, I hope they will at least check them out.