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Saturday, 18 July 2026

Global Animal Guide

Order Squamata

Animals in the order Squamata on Global Animal Guide. The guide features 39 species in this order — each profile answers the most-searched questions first.

Black mamba with mouth open showing dark interior in savanna habitat

Reptile

Black Mamba

Africa's fast and feared elapid snake

Inland taipan with dark head and tan body coiled in a soil crack on arid plains

Reptile

Inland Taipan

World's most venomous snake by lab toxicity

Copperhead coiled on leaf litter showing hourglass crossbands and copper-coloured head

Reptile

Copperhead

Common US pit viper with hourglass bands

Bearded dragon basking on a warm desert rock with spiny beard

Reptile

Bearded Dragon

The friendly desert lizard and favorite pet reptile

Reticulated python with geometric net-like dorsal pattern coiled along a riverbank log

Reptile

Reticulated Python

World's longest snake

Eastern diamondback rattlesnake with brown diamonds edged in white coiled in wiregrass

Reptile

Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake

Largest rattlesnake of North America

Colorful chameleon gripping a thin branch with curled tail

Reptile

Chameleon

The color-changing lizard with 360-degree eyes

Puff adder with chevron markings coiled in dry grass showing inflated warning posture

Reptile

Puff Adder

Heavy African viper linked to many snakebites

Crested gecko with eyelash-like crests and sticky toe pads clinging to a vertical branch

Reptile

Crested Gecko

Eyelash-crested gecko of New Caledonia

Gaboon viper with intricate leaf-litter pattern and horned nose tip coiled on forest floor

Reptile

Gaboon Viper

Heavy rainforest viper with huge fangs

Ball python coiled on a textured branch with patterned scales

Near Threatened

Reptile

Ball Python

The gentle constrictor that curls into a ball

Nile monitor with banded tail swimming along a muddy African riverbank

Reptile

Nile Monitor

Large African water monitor and egg predator

Common garter snake with three light longitudinal stripes crossing damp garden mulch

Reptile

Common Garter Snake

Familiar harmless snake of North American yards

Eastern coral snake with red, yellow, and black rings on sandy pine-woods soil

Reptile

Eastern Coral Snake

Brightly banded venomous elapid of the Southeast

King cobra raised up with its hood spread against a blurred jungle background

Reptile

King Cobra

The world's longest venomous snake

Sidewinder rattlesnake with supraocular horns leaving J-shaped tracks on desert sand

Reptile

Sidewinder

Horned rattlesnake that sidewinds across dunes

Male veiled chameleon with high casque and banded flanks gripping a thorny desert shrub

Reptile

Veiled Chameleon

Tall-casqued chameleon of the Arabian Peninsula

Green boomslang with oversized eyes draped along a savanna acacia branch

Reptile

Boomslang

Arboreal African snake with potent venom

Komodo dragon walking across dry ground with its forked tongue out

Reptile

Komodo Dragon

The largest lizard on Earth

Eastern blue-tongued skink with broad blue tongue extended against brown banded flanks

Reptile

Blue-tongued Skink

Stocky Australian skink with a blue tongue

Green basilisk with sail-like head and dorsal crests running bipedally across a stream

Reptile

Green Basilisk

Jesus Christ lizard that runs on water

Thorny devil covered in conical spines walking across orange spinifex sand

Reptile

Thorny Devil

Spiky desert lizard that drinks via skin channels

Green anole male with extended pink dewlap clinging to a garden fence post

Reptile

Green Anole

Colour-changing lizard of southern US gardens

Chuckwalla with loose folds of skin flattened against dark desert basalt

Reptile

Chuckwalla

Rock-dwelling desert lizard that inflates to wedge itself

Green anaconda with dark blotches coiled at the edge of a murky Amazon swamp

Reptile

Green Anaconda

The heaviest snake in the world

Boa constrictor with brown saddle markings coiled around a tree branch

Reptile

Boa Constrictor

The powerful constricting snake of the Americas

Coastal taipan raised in defensive posture showing coppery head and pale body in dry grass

Reptile

Coastal Taipan

Lightning-fast elapid of Australian cane fields

Emerald tree boa coiled on branch with white zigzag markings and vivid green scales

Reptile

Emerald Tree Boa

Emerald coil of the Amazon canopy

Green tree python looped on branch with blue juvenile tones fading to adult green

Reptile

Green Tree Python

Lime-green python of Papuan rainforests

Male panther chameleon gripping branch with turquoise and red bands and independently swivelled eyes

Reptile

Panther Chameleon

Locale-coloured chameleon of Madagascar

Western diamondback rattlesnake coiled with raised rattle on dry desert ground

Reptile

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

The venomous pit viper with a warning rattle

Corn snake with orange and red blotched pattern coiled on a wooden surface

Reptile

Corn Snake

The gentle, colorful beginner's pet snake

Frilled lizard standing with its large neck frill flared open and mouth gaping

Reptile

Frilled Lizard

The lizard that flares a dramatic neck frill

Asian water monitor with dark scaly skin and yellow markings walking near water

Reptile

Asian Water Monitor

One of the largest lizards in the world

Leopard gecko with yellow skin and dark spots standing on sandy desert ground

Reptile

Leopard Gecko

The spotted desert gecko and beginner-friendly pet

Gila monster with black and orange beaded skin walking across desert sand

Near Threatened

Reptile

Gila Monster

One of the few venomous lizards

Garter snake with yellow stripes along a dark body resting in green grass

Reptile

Garter Snake

One of North America's most common and widespread snakes

European adder with a dark zigzag pattern coiled on heathland among heather

Reptile

Adder

Britain's only venomous snake

Green iguana with spiny crest and dewlap perched on a tree branch in the rainforest

Reptile

Green Iguana

The large tree-dwelling lizard of the tropics