30 Colorful Species of Lizards Found in India

Approximately 610 species of reptiles are found in India, here we are only covering known species of lizards, calotes, agama, skink and gecko. Here is the list of most beautiful and colorful species of lizards found in different regions, forest and desert lands of Indian Subcontinent.

Indian Chameleon (Chamaeleo zeylanicus)

Indian chameleon is the only species of chameleon found in Indian Subcontinent with the ability to change skin colour.

Fan Throated Lizard (Sitana ponticeriana)

Fan throated lizard is a agamid lizard, found mostly in open ground patches and on the hilly ground, distributed across the Indian Subcontinent.

Oriental Garden Lizard (Calotes versicolor)

Oriental garden lizard is the most common species of agamid lizard found in India as well as many other parts of the world.

Indian Spiny Tailed Lizard (Saara hardwickii)

Indian spiny tailed lizard is only found in the Thar desert region of Kutch and surrounding zones of Rajasthan, extensively in the Jaisalmer, Barmer and Churu districts.

Southern Flying Lizard (Draco dussumieri)

southern flying lizard or South Indian flying lizard, mostly found in the Western Ghats and hill of southern India. The lizard is capable of gliding from tree to tree and feeds on insects.

Common Green Forest Lizard (Calotes calotes)

Common green forest lizard found in the forests of the Western Ghats in South India and has a concave forehead. Calotes calotes is large species of agamid lizard with white stripes and bright red head.

Large Scaled Forest Lizard (Calotes grandisquamis)

Large scaled forest lizard is another arboreal agamid lizard, found from Agumbe to Agasthyamalai Hills in the evergreen rainforests of the Western Ghats.

Indo Chinese Forest Lizard (Calotes mystaceus)

Indo Chinese forest lizard also known as Moustached forest lizard, naturally found in the forest of Mizoram. Calotes mystaceus are not dangerous and harmless to humans.

Khasi Hills Forest Lizard (Calotes maria)

Khasi Hills forest agamid lizard found in Khasi Hills of Meghalaya,in Assam and Mizoram state of Northeast India. Calotes maria generally found in many types of forested land.

Nilgiri Forest Lizard (Calotes nemoricola)

Nilgiri forest lizards are green colored agamid lizards, found in Nilgiri Hills, Anaimalai, Coorg and Agumbe forest of Western Ghats.

Anaimalai Spiny Lizard (Salea anamallayana)

Anaimalai spiny lizard is a beautiful species of agamid lizard endemic to Western Ghats of India, Specifically Anaimalai Hills. The Anaimalais salea also found in the forest of Meghamalai in the Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Emma Gray’s Forest Lizard (Calotes emma)

Emma Gray’s forest lizard or forest crested lizard is only found in Assam area of India as well as some part of the Northeast states.

Roux’s Forest Lizard (Calotes rouxii)

Roux’s forest lizard is endemic to the Western ghats of India and also found in many localities of Eastern Ghats and reserve forests of Andhra Pradesh.

Elliot’s Forest Lizard (Calotes ellioti)

Elliot’s forest lizard species is endemic to the Western Ghats of India, found in the Anaimalai, Thirunellveli and Sivagiri hills.

Laungwala Long Headed Lizard (Bufoniceps laungwalaensis)

Laungwala long headed lizard is the only species of Bufoniceps and only found in desert area of Rajasthan around Jaisalmer district.

South Indian Rock Agama (Psammophilus dorsalis)

South Indian rock agama is the most common species of agama lizards, found on rocky hills of south India and also in the Eastern Ghats.

Indian Fringe Fingered Lacerta (Acanthodactylus cantoris)

Indian fringe fingered is species of lacertid lizard, only found in northwestern states of India from Gujarat to Uttar Pradesh.

Jerdon’s Snake Eye Lacerta (Ophisops jerdonii)

Jerdon’s snake eye lacertid lizard is distributed in Afghanistan and India.

Keeled Indian Mabuya (Eutropis carinata)

Keeled Indian mabuya also known as common golden skink in India, most common species of skink found in and around gardens, houses and cities of India and Bangladesh.

Spotted Forest Skink (Sphenomorphus maculatus)

Spotted forest skink also known as Andaman skink is nocturnal and non venomous, stream side skink species.

Lined Writhing Skink (Lygosoma lineata)

Lined writhing skink is a small but long tail species of writhing skink, found mostly from Gujarat to north of Karnataka and also spotted in Sanjay Gandhi national park of Mumbai.

Tokay Gecko (Gekko gecko)

Tokay gecko is a nocturnal gecko and a threatened species in India due to illegal wildlife trade, used for medicinal trades in parts of Asia.

Leopard Gecko (Eublepharis macularius)

Common leopard gecko found throughout Afghanistan and some parts of northern India. The leopard gecko are larger than other gecko species found in India.

Termite Hill Gecko (Hemidactylus triedrus)

Termite hill gecko is nocturnal ground gecko species, native to many states of India. The brightly coloured gecko found in open areas around the termite hills.

East Indian Leopard Gecko (Eublepharis hardwickii)

East Indian leopard gecko is endemic to India and Bangladesh, found on the forest roads or on open areas of Odisha and along the banks of the Mahanadi river.

Andaman Islands Day Gecko (Phelsuma andamanense)

Andaman Islands day gecko is small and bright green colour species of geckos, found only on the Andaman and the Nicobar islands.

Long Tailed Grass Lizard (Takydromus sexlineatus)

Long tailed grass lizard has a very long tail, length usually over three times the body and found in number of countries including India and other South East Asia.

Bengal Monitor Lizard (Varanus bengalensis)

Bengal monitor or common Indian monitor lizard is second largest species of monitor lizard found across the Indian Subcontinent. This large lizard is mainly solitary and more arboreal but also found on the ground.

Desert Monitor (Varanus griseus koniecznyi)

The desert monitor species is known as Indian desert monitor and mainly found in Thar desert region of Rajasthan.

Asian Water Monitor (Varanus salvator)

Asian water monitor lizards are among the largest lizards and most common monitor lizards found throughout Indian Subcontinent and Asia. This large species of monitor lizard range from coastal northeast India to the islands of Indonesia.