On our short trip, last week-end, I took a shot of a very nice green-blue lizard.

An amazing green-blue lizard

Later, me and Ani discovered that actually this lizard is called European green lizard, and is also known as Lacerta viridis.

Its name contains only ‘green’, but I would have called it green-blue, as its back is really green, but its stomach has a very intensive blue color (as you can see from the photo, too).

So I decided to publish a few more shots of it:

European green lizard (Lacerta viridis)

European green lizard (Lacerta viridis)

It had a very interesting head, and how bravely it looked towards the lens:

European green lizard (Lacerta viridis)

So beautiful! It wasn’t scared even a bit by the camera and the flash (which I dared to fire off once, trying to un-shadow some parts of its body:-)

Now, if you look at it a certain angle, and can imagine it bigger, a lot bigger…

European green lizard (Lacerta viridis)

…you’ll see a crocodile! :-)

I think I have met such a lizard for the first time. Maybe they are a rarer kind?

Here’s a ‘normal’ lizard, just for comparison:

lizard

We took a photo of it on the same walk on Sunday. In fact, both kinds of lizards were lying in the sun in the most peaceful of manners, less than 2 metres away from each other! :-)

Photos were taken with a Canon S5 IS, from around 1-1.5 m of distance.

4 thoughts on “European Green Lizard (Lacerta Viridis)

  1. “I think I have met such a lizard for the first time. Maybe they are a rarer kind?”

    No, they aren’t rare at all, you just have to learn to spot them! :D

    They are either camouflaged well or they run too fast for us to see them and hide in holes. The other lizard is not Lacerta viridis. I couldn’t find its name on the internet but I think it’s a close relative, but not the same species. The green lizard grows up to 40-50 cm and the brown only up to 15-20. Btw, I think the brown one on your photo is a pregnant female. Males are usually more beautiful and have a larger head than females. Only the males in Lacerta Viridis can have a blue bottom part of the head (not the whole body, the stomach is actually yellow).

    I am not sure, but I think the blue has something to do with the mating season. It is then that I usually spot more blue-headed lizards. And also in my humble opinion: the brighter and more spread the blue is, the more dominant the male lizard is.

    I am not a biologist, just a guy who’s been catching, keeping, feeding and releasing them after a couple of days. I just admire their beauty. ;)

  2. Love the blue green lizard! I’ve had pet chameleons, like Jackson’s, and also chuckwallas, and I think they are fascinating. One of nature’s true treasures. Thanks for the beautiful pics! – Susan

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