The way of life of the lizards enables these fascinating animals to colonize regions that are often hostile to life. In Germany there are fewer and fewer of these habitats, which means that the population of lizards is also declining.
Croatian mountain lizard (Iberolacerta horvathi)
- Size: up to 18 cm
- Colour: Green-brown basic colour, back with dark speckles, underside white to yellowish, reddish brown to dark brown bands with sharply defined borders
- Mating time: May – June
- Habitats: Scree slopes, rocky stream banks, rocky and rocky regions with crevasses in the rock
- Occurrence: northern Italy, southern Austria, northern Slovenia, in Germany in the Karwendel
- Diet: Insects, arachnids, slugs
- Peculiarities: only proven in one region in Germany so far
The Croatian mountain lizard was first recorded in Germany in the 1980s. Since it has not penetrated further than the southern mountainous regions of Austria, experts assume that it was released in Germany. Due to climate change, however, there is a possibility that this species will spread further in Germany, provided it finds suitable habitats.
Mauereidechse (Podarcis muralis)
- Size: up to 25 cm
- Colour: grey-brown, back partially with net-like markings, underside white or yellowish to almost orange
- Mating season: March – June
- Habitats: Southeast facing slopes with low vegetation, rock with deep crevices
- Occurrence: Northern to central Spain, Central Europe, the Balkans to the Black Sea, in Germany mainly in climatically favorable regions such as along the Rhine, Moselle or Neckar
- Food: Insects, arachnids, isopods
- Special features: old cultivars found in vineyards and along railway embankments or road embankments, occasionally also on buildings
Eastern green lizard (Lacerta viridis)
- Size: up to 40 cm
- Colour: light green, back with a brownish network structure
- Paarungszeit: April – Mai
- Habitats: southern slopes, dry grassland, dry stone walls, sparse bushes
- Occurrence: Austria, Slovenia, northern Italy, the Balkans, in Germany mainly along the slopes of the Danube near Passau and eastern Brandenburg
- Diet: Insects, arachnids, occasionally fruits, young reptiles and young smaller mammals
- Special features: males have a sky-blue throat coloration during the mating season
Ruineneidechse (Podarcis siculus)
- Size: up to 25 cm
- Colour: gray-brown to greenish, underside can be white, reddish-brown or light green, longitudinal brown stripe on the back, yellowish speckles especially on the sides
- Mating season: only during the summer months
- Habitats: Forest edges, rocky terrain, parks, river, lake and pond banks
- Occurrence: Southern Europe to Turkey, introduced in the USA and Germany
- Diet: Insects, arachnids, worms, occasionally plant food
- Special features: a population was able to establish itself near Karlsruhe
The mating season of the Ruin Lizards begins as soon as there are constant summer temperatures. Young animals hatch from the eggs after about 50 days, which is why mating occurs several times in Germany. In the southern regions where they originally occur, mating occurs year-round.
Waldeidechse (Zootoca vivipara)
- Size: up to 16 cm
- Colour: dark brown, back and sides with dark stripes with yellow and black spots, underside grey, yellowish to orange
- Mating time: May – June
- Habitats: forest edges with maximum average vegetation, swampy areas
- Occurrence: Central Europe, Northern Europe, spreading from Europe in a belt through Central Asia to the East China and Sea of Japan
- Food: arachnids, insects, plant lice
- Special features: occasionally there are specimens that are completely black
The wood lizard has penetrated far north like no other species before. It could even be detected at the 70th degree of latitude in the Varanger Fjord. The wood lizard and sand lizard are the most common native species.
Western green lizard (Lacerta bilineata)
- Size: up to 40 cm
- Colour: light to dark green, males with black speckles on the back, females have two broken lines in white and black on the sides of the back
- Paarungszeit: April – Mai
- Habitats: southern slopes, dry grassland, dry stone walls, sparse bushes
- Occurrence: Northern Spain, southern France, Germany, Italy, Croatia, introduced into Kansas in the USA
- Diet: Insects, arachnids, snails, small young vertebrates
- Special features: an official separation between eastern and western coloring only took place in 1991
Zauneidechse (Lacerta agilis)
- Size: up to 27 cm
- Farbe: braun, Unterseite cremefarben, Oberseite mit dunklen Flecken mit hellen Punkten oder Streifen
- Paarungszeit: April – Juni
- Lebensräume: Steinhaufen, Trockenmauern, Trockenrasen, trockene Waldwege und Waldränder
- Vorkommen: Zentralfrankreich, Mitteleuropa, Osteuropa, Südschweden, Baltikum, Südspitze des Baikalsees, Kaukasus
- Nahrung: Insekten, Spinnentiere, Regenwürmer, trinken Tautropfen und Regenwasser
- Besonderheiten: währender der Paarungszeit verfärben sich die Seiten und der Bauch der Männchen smaragdgrün
Sonderfall: Blindschleiche
Although the slow worm (Anguis fragilis) looks like a snake , it is not a type of reptile. A major difference to snakes is that if they become prey themselves, they can shed the end of their tails.
Lizards also have this property. Nevertheless, the slow worm does not belong to the lizard family, but is a species of lizard in the worm family and is therefore not even remotely related to the real lizard family. The creep family is very diverse and there are also some species that have more or less pronounced front legs.
Characteristics of the slow worm:
- Size: up to 55 cm
- Colour: various shades of brown, occasionally yellowish or grey
- Mating time: May – June
- Habitats: herbaceous vegetation with good hiding places, fallow land, railway embankments, moor edges
- Occurrence: there are local subspecies, generally the slow worm is native to Europe and Asia
- Food: Slugs, earthworms, isopods, beetles, ants, arachnids
