Country Life

Common lizard (Zootoca vivipara)

Basking on sunny days on a dry log, a stone or a piece of walling, solar-powered common lizards refers to the female's ability to birth live young, contrary to many reptiles' habit of egg-laying; it is also referred to as the viviparous lizard. When summer arrives, the clutch of black juveniles, only an inch or two long, grow rapidly and lighten as they mature. Adults have plenty of colour range in their scaly skin, which is variably brown with black and cream spots and stripes. Males sport yellow or orange spotted bellies; the females' are plain and paler.

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